The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Golfers swinging through amateur series this summer
08.04.2004 | Women's Golf
While summer is usually a time for people to sneak away from the office several times to hit the links, have some fun and blow off some steam, this summer members of the Texas golf teams have been hard at work on the course preparing their games for runs at the 2005 national championships.
Coming off a 2003-04 season that saw the men's team take fourth at the NCAA Championships and the women's team take a sixth-place tie at NCAA's - their fifth top-six showing in the last five years - both teams have similar goals for the upcoming campaign: to take top honors at the year-end tournament.
To pass the long summer months, most of the returning members of both teams have been hard at work on the golf course, playing in amateur tournaments across the country, and the globe.
Devan Andersen (Guadalajara, Mexico), who will be a junior this season for head coach Susan Watkins' women's team, has made her mark on the international scene, earning three top-ten finishes so far this summer, including a second-place showing at the Ladies' Dutch Amateur Open. Her teammate, senior Lisa Ferrero (Lodi, Calif.), came within one hole of winning the Ladies North and South Amateur, falling in the match-play championship, 1-up, to Morgan Pressel.
On the men's side, head coach John Fields has seen his team compete all over the country on the amateur circuit. Junior All-American Mathew Rosenfeld (Plano, Texas) highlighted the summer results, earning a summer-best second place finish at the Sunnehanna Amateur at the outset of the season.
The summer amateur season will soon come to a close for the Longhorns as they will be reporting back to UT in the coming weeks, but several important events are still on the horizon. This weekend, Friday-Saturday, August 6-7, Jason Hartwick (Sacramento, Calif.), who just completed his stellar four-year career at UT, will represent the United States in the Palmer Cup, a Ryder Cup style international competition being held at Ballybunion Golf Club in County Kerry, Ireland.
Additionally, Ferrero and incoming freshman Kelley Louth (Victoria, Texas) will compete in the U.S. Women's Amateur Championships at the Kahkwa Club in Erie, Pa., Monday-Sunday, August 9-15. On the men's side, Hartwick will have another chance to go after the men's U.S. Amateur Championship when play begins on Monday, August 16 (through Sunday, Aug. 22) at Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamoroneck, N.Y.
For more information about the Palmer Cup, fans can go to GCAA.CollegiateGolf.com. For more information about the U.S. Women's Amateur, including live scoring, fans can access USWAmateur.com. Finally, for live scoring and more information about the men's U.S. Amateur, fans can go to 2004USAmateur.com.
