Women's Golf Prepares for NCAA Championship
5/19/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
May 19, 2008
Complete Release in PDF Format 
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The No. 12 ranked University of Alabama women's golf team is heading back to the NCAA Championships for the third straight year with this year's tournament being played in Albuquerque, N.M. at the University of New Mexico Championship Golf Course, May 20-23. Alabama will tee-off tomorrow at 9:00 a.m. with South Carolina and Arkansas.
Freshman Camilla Lennarth notched her third top 10 finish of the year at the Central Regional finishing with a 218 (+2) good for a tie for tenth place. Lennarth came up with a final round 71 (-1), the best of the tournament for the Tide, to secure her spot in the top 10.
The Tide will face off against the best of the best at the NCAA Championship as 24 of the nation's top teams will compete for the national title. The Duke Blue Devils will be back to try to defend their title from last year.
Seven SEC teams qualified for the championship, the most of any conference. Four SEC schools, including Alabama, enter the tournament ranked in the top 12, led by Florida, who is ranked No. 4 after winning the SEC and East Regional.
The Tide earned its spot in the NCAA Championship by coming away with a sixth place finish in the Central Regional held at the University of Texas Golf Club in Austin, Texas. Alabama shot a 293 (+5) in the second round, its best of the tournament, en route to a final score of 896 (+32).
This season marks the fourth time in team history that the Tide has reached the NCAA Championship with three of the four trips coming in the past three years under head coach Mic Potter.
Alabama's only other appearance in the NCAA's came in 1987 when the team came away with a ninth-place finish, the best ever for the Tide women's golf team. This year's team will look to improve on a 23rd place finish in last year's championship.
Since head coach Mic Potter took the reigns in 2005, the Crimson Tide has reached the postseason in each of his three years. The selection to compete in the NCAA Central Regional this season is the 10th in school history and the sixth since 2001 for the Tide women.
After advancing through the Central Regional, the Tide has now qualified for the NCAA Championships three years in a row for the first time in team history.
The regional berth marked the 15th consecutive appearance by a team under Potter's direction. The Hall of Fame coach has now led a team to a regional bid in each season since the format came into inception in 1993.
Potter came to Alabama after 23 years coaching at Furman where he was named to the NGCA Hall of Fame in 1994. In his second season with the Tide, Potter took home SEC Coach of the Year honors, the tenth time he was named conference coach of the year in his career.
Three members of the Alabama women's golf team garnered All-SEC honors as announced by the conference office today. Junior Kathleen Ekey was named to the All-SEC First-Team while newcomers Courtney Harter and Camilla Lennarth garnered All-Freshman Team accolades.
Ekey instantly made Alabama a national threat after transferring from Furman. The junior is ranked No. 21 in the nation by Golfweek and leads the No. 12 ranked Crimson Tide with a 73.21 scoring average.
Ekey has finished in the Top 10 in six of the 11 tournaments she has competed in for the Tide this season.
Harter made a smooth transition from high school to the college game by winning the first tournament she ever played in at UA. Harter took medalist honors at the Wildcat Fall Invitational, finishing with a final score of 213. The freshman fired a 67 in her first ever round with the Tide. Harter has turned in four rounds under par in her freshman campaign.
Lennarth has not only made a seamless transition to college golf but to a foreign country as well. The Stockholm, Sweden native boasts a 74.47 scoring average good for second on the team.
Lennarth placed second at the Wildcat Fall Invitational to help lead the Tide to its first team title since the beginning of the 2005-06 season. The newcomer has fired five rounds under par this season.
The Tide continues to hold down slots in the top 10 in numerous statistical categories, both as a team and as individuals. Alabama is currently ranked in the top 10 in five of the eight stats recorded on Golfstat.com.
The Tide's highest team ranking comes in Fairways Hit in which the Tide sits at fifth in the nation. Alabama ranks seventh in both Subpar Strokes per Round and Par 4 Scoring. The team has also shown some skills around the greens ranking tenth in Greens in Regulation and ninth in Putts on Greens in Regulation.
Kathleen Ekey owns a top 5 spot in two individual categories including a second place standing in Greens in Regulation and fourth in Par 5 scoring. Helena Blomberg also finds herself amongst the nation's elite in Putts on Greens in Regulation where she ranks ninth.
