The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
NCAA West Regional Championships
Women's Golf advances to NCAA Championships with a tie for third place at West Regional
05.08.2010 | Women's Golf
May 8, 2010
STANFORD, Calif. -- The No. 10-seed University of Texas Women's Golf team (293-304-293=890, +38) punched its third-consecutive ticket to the NCAA Championships with a tie for third place at the West Regional on Saturday afternoon. Freshman Haley Stephens (70-77-68) fired a career-low 54-hole score of 2-over-par 215 to pace the Longhorns on the individual leaderboard with a career-best tie for third place.
The top-eight team finishers and top two individuals not playing on the eight qualifying teams earned bids to compete at the 2010 NCAA Women's Golf Championships from May 18-21 at the Country Club of Landfall in Wilmington, N.C., hosted by UNC Wilmington.
Stephens' career-low and field-best final round of 3-under 68 on the par-71, 6,103-yard Stanford Golf Course included six birdies and three bogeys. Throughout 54 holes, she recorded 11 subpars, 10 bogeys and a lone double bogey during tough course conditions where the average round was more than 77 (+6).
Playing in Texas' No. 2 position on Saturday, freshman Madison Pressel (71-76-76) notched her team-leading fifth top 25 finish of the year with a tie for 20th place at 10-over 223. Senior Shannon Fish (77-74-74) finished two strokes back at 12-over 225 and tied for 30th place. Freshman Desiree Dubreuil (75-77-78=230, +17) and sophomore Nicole Vandermade (78-81-75=234, +21) rounded out the Texas squad in ties for 56th and 76th places, respectively.
No. 3-seed Arizona (291-294-291) finished atop the team leaderboard at 24-over 876. Top-seeded UCLA (292-296-297) finished runner-up with a 33-over 885, and No. 2-seed Alabama (295-300-295) tied with Texas at 38-over 890 for a share of third place.
NCAA West Regional Championships - Top eight teams advancing to NCAA Championships
1. Arizona, 291-294-291=876 (+24)
2. UCLA, 292-296-297=885 (+33)
T3. TEXAS, 293-304-293=890 (+38)
T3. Alabama, 295-300-295=890 (+38)
5. Virginia, 291-305-298=894 (+42)
6. Stanford, 297-304-294=895 (+43)
7. San Jose State, 303-299-298=900 (+48)
8. Texas A&M, 299-302-302=903 (+51)
Top Five Individuals
T1. Calle Nielson, Virginia - 72-71-71=214 (+1) *
T1. Madeleine Ziegert, San Jose State - 67-74-73=214 (+1) *
T3. Nikki Koller, Arizona - 71-73-71=215 (+2)
T3. Haley Stephens, Texas - 70-77-68=215 (+2)
5. Camilla Lennarth, Alabama - 73-70-74=217 (+4)
* - denotes co-medalist
Additional Texas Individuals
T20. Madison Pressel, 71-76-76=223 (+10)
T30. Shannon Fish, 77-74-74=225 (+12)
T56. Desiree Dubreuil, 75-77-78=230 (+17)
T76. Nicole Vandermade, 78-81-75=234 (+21)
POST-TOURNAMENT QUOTES
Head Coach Martha Richards
On advancing to the NCAA Championships: It's a great feeling. Just making the field of 72 is a great honor, but to make it to the 24-team NCAA Championship feels awesome. The team played really well and I think a key strength was our course management this weekend. We played really solid golf, maybe not even as well as we're capable of on this course, but we competed hard every day and that was the key factor.
On the play of freshman Haley Stephens: Haley played really well and was very focused. This was the tournament where I've seen her best composure, too. She had a few tough holes all three days, but she never let those tough holes rattle her. She played just super golf today - great birdies and super up-and-downs to save par. It was just a great round of golf out of her.
On the turnaround between Regionals and Championships: There are a few things that we're going to tackle this week, but there is nothing major with anyone's golf game that we'll need to work on. Our biggest challenge will be getting everyone through their finals and fitting in some times to practice. It's a quick turnaround where we'll be getting on another plane a week from today, but as long as we build on this weekend's success, we'll be in good shape.
