Women's Golf Begins Play at NCAA East Regional
5/9/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
May 9, 2012
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The University of Alabama women's golf team begins play at the NCAA East Regional Thursday morning in search of its seventh straight bid to the NCAA Championships on the 6,253-yard, par-72 Penn State Blue Course in State College, Pa.
The second-ranked Crimson Tide is the top-seeded team in the 24-team East Regional for the second straight year. The regional, which runs May 10-12, marks the seventh straight year that the Crimson Tide has reached the NCAA Regional's under head coach Mic Potter, the longest consecutive streak in team history, and the 14th overall appearance. It also marks the 11th appearance in the NCAA East Regional for the Tide.
The nation's top-ranked team, UCLA, is the No. 1 seed in the NCAA West Regional at the Colorado National Golf Club while No. 3 Southern California is the top seed in the NCAA Central Regional on the Scarlet Course at the Ohio State University Golf Club.
Arizona State is the No. 2-seed in the East Regional while Duke garnered the No. 3 seed. Texas A&M is the fourth seed with Florida fifth. Arizona is the sixth seed while Oklahoma State is seventh and South Carolina eight.
The top eight finishers at the NCAA East Regional will advance to the NCAA Championships at the Vanderbilt Legends Club on May 22-25 in Franklin, Tenn. Alabama finished second at the Mason Rudolph Fall Preview in September at the Legends Golf Club with a 15-over-par total of 879.
The Crimson Tide's lineup is one of the deepest in the nation with three first-team All-SEC selections and two Curtis Cup players at the top of the card. Alabama boasts four players in the top 64 of the Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index, including three inside the top 13.
Senior Brooke Pancake leads the team with a 72.46 scoring average while ranking fifth in the most recent Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index. The USA Curtis Cup team member has six top-11 finishes this season and two runner-up showings. Pancake has 12 rounds of par or better this season and five rounds in the 60s.
Junior Jennifer Kirby is 13th in the latest Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index and second on the team with a 72.61 stroke average. She captured medalist honors at the Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic and has four top-10 finishes in 2011-12.
Sophomore Stephanie Meadow has risen to No. 10 in the latest Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index. The native of Jordanstown, Northern Ireland, is third on the team in scoring at 72.69. The European Curtis Cup team member captured medalist honors at the SEC/PAC-12 Challenge and the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate for a school-record five career first-place individual finishes.
Sophomore Hannah Collier has turned in an outstanding season in the fourth spot in the Tide's lineup. The Birmingham, Ala., native has a 74.31 scoring average and two top-10 finishes. True freshman Johanna Tillström has started the last seven events this season while counting toward the team score in 12 of 20 rounds.
Alabama won the NCAA East Regional in 2011, becoming the first Crimson Tide team to accomplish the feat. Meadow also captured medalist honors. The season before that, UA finished tied for third at the 2010 NCAA West Regional to earn a berth in the NCAA Championships where they posted the school's best NCAA finish with a third-place showing.
Alabama will begin teeing off Thursday at 7:36 a.m. (CDT) and will be playing with Arizona State and Duke. Live stats for the tournament will be available at golfstat.com.
Follow breaking news on the Crimson Tide on Facebook at Alabama-womens-golf and on Twitter at @AlabamaWGolf. More NCAA East Regional news can be found through the Penn State website (link).
Players Mentioned
