The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
NCAA Championship
Strauss paces Women's Golf in NCAA Championship third round
05.24.2012 | Women's Golf
May 24, 2012
FRANKLIN, Tenn. -- With a clutch birdie on her final hole, freshman Bertine Strauss led the Texas Women's Golf team with a 2-over-par 74 in Thursday's third round of the NCAA Championship at Legends Golf Club. Strauss (74-76-74) climbed 24 places on the individual leaderboard and is in a team-best tie for 40th at 8-over 224 through 54 holes.
The Longhorns (297-295-313) enter Friday's finale of the national championship in 20th place at 41-over 905.
At 3-over through her four beginning holes, Strauss found her first of five birdies on the par-5 14th hole. She climbed to +4 with a double bogey on 16, and a birdie-bogey finish on the back nine kept her at 4-over at the turn. Strauss sank her third birdie of the day on the second hole, and followed with a bogey on four and another birdie on five for a +3 scorecard. Her birdie on nine resulted in Strauss' best round thus far in her NCAA Championship debut.
Senior Nicole Vandermade (76-72-78) finished four strokes behind Strauss on Thursday and is tied for 54th place at 10-over 226. Vandermade will conclude her collegiate career Friday before resigning her amateur status and competing as a fully-exempt member of the Symetra Tour for the rest of the year.
Junior Katelyn Sepmoree (71-76-80=227) gained eight strokes after a third-round 80 and is tied for 64th place. Juniors Haley Stephens (76-72-83=231) and Desiree Dubreuil (81-75-81=237) round out the Texas squad in ties for 92nd and 115th places, respectively.
Southern Cal (297-288-294=879) closed the gap with 36-hole team leader Alabama (286-285-306=877) and trails by two strokes. Purdue (293-295-295), South Carolina (302-281-300) and Virginia (288-294-301) are tied for third place at 19-over 883.
Texas will conclude the 2012 NCAA Championship on Friday morning beginning at 7:30 a.m. Central on the first tee alongside Baylor and Arkansas.
Post-round Comments
Texas Head Coach Martha Richards
On Texas' third round: The greens were a little firmer today and the hole locations were more difficult, but that's to be expected when you get to the third round. The wind picked up just enough that not only was club selection tricky, but if you were downwind then it took all the spin off the ball and then you couldn't get the greens to hold. It was a double whammy. (Legends) didn't play as difficult as the scores indicated, but it was a great challenge today. The golf course won, though.
On freshman Bertine Strauss' third round: Great round of golf. She just kept fighting. After her round, she said to me, "I never felt comfortable all day." That sometimes happens when there's just enough wind and conditions like today. I'm really proud of the way she continued to fight and play hard all day. She made some great putts coming down the stretch, including one to save par and one for a birdie (on nine).
Third-round Team Standings
1. Alabama - 286-285-306=877 (+13)
2. Southern Cal - 297-288-294=879 (+15)
T3. Purdue - 293-295-295=883 (+19)
T3. South Carolina - 302-281-300=883 (+19)
T3. Virginia - 288-294-301=883 (+19)
6. LSU - 293-294-297=884 (+20)
7. North Carolina - 290-292-303=885 (+21)
8. Arizona State - 292-291-304=887 (+23)
T9. UCLA - 292-290-306=888 (+24)
T9. Oklahoma - 294-299-295=888 (+24)
T11. Duke - 289-302-301=892 (+28)
T11. Florida - 302-293-297=892 (+28)
13. North Carolina State - 299-294-305=898 (+34)
14. Texas A&M - 301-298-300=899 (+35)
15. Colorado - 297-298-305=900 (+36)
T16. Michigan State - 296-311-294=901 (+37)
T16. Vanderbilt - 306-284-311=901 (+37)
T18. Pepperdine - 306-293-304=903 (+39)
T18. Baylor - 299-304-300=903 (+39)
20. TEXAS - 297-295-313=905 (+41)
21. Arkansas - 303-301-309=913 (+49)
22. Tennessee - 300-307-307=914 (+50)
23. Ohio State - 303-307-305=915 (+51)
24. Stanford - 309-304-307=920 (+56)
Third-round Top-10 Individual Standings
T1. Chirapat Jao-Javanil, Oklahoma - 69-73-70=212 (-4)
T1. Giulia Molinaro, Arizona State - 69-71-72=212 (-4)
T3. Brooke Pancake, Alabama - 68-70-75=213 (-3)
T3. Tessa Teachman, LSU - 69-74-70=213 (-3)
T5. Katie Burnett, South Carolina - 74-67-74=215 (-1)
T5. Portland Rosen, Virginia - 66-75-74=215 (-1)
7. Doris Chen, Southern Cal - 75-69-72=216 (E)
T8. Brittany Marchand, NC State - 71-70-76=217 (+1)
T8. Laura Gonzalez, Purdue - 67-76-74=217 (+1)
10. Katherine Perry, North Carolina - 75-70-73=218 (+2)
Texas Players
T40. Bertine Strauss - 74-76-74=224 (+8)
T54. Nicole Vandermade - 76-72-78=226 (+10)
T64. Katelyn Sepmoree - 71-76-80=227 (+11)
T92. Haley Stephens - 76-72-83=231 (+15)
T115. Desiree Dubreuil - 81-75-81=237 (+21)
