Women's Golf Earns At-Large Berth In NCAA Regionals
Apr 29, 2002 | Women's Golf
April 29, 2002
NEW ORLEANS, La. - The Tulane University women's golf team earned its second berth in three seasons to the NCAA Regionals, claiming the 12th seed among 21 teams in the East Regional which will be hosted by LSU at the University Club, May 9-11, 2002.
The Green Wave, which made its first ever trip to the postseason in 2000, are one of four Conference USA teams to earn NCAA berths as Memphis and South Florida join Tulane in the East as the 14th and 18th seeds, respectively, and league champion TCU claimed the ninth seed in the Central Regional.
The Green Wave enter the Regionals ranked 31st in the latest poll by GolfStat.com and coming off a second-place finish at the Conference USA tournament when Tulane fired a team 889 (291-299-299). Tulane won one tournament during the 2001-02 season, claiming the Green Wave Women's Golf Classic championship with a 14-over par 601, and finished in the top four on five occasions.
"We're very excited about making the Regionals this year and have our sights set on finishing in the top eight and advancing to nationals," head coach Sue Bower said. "I think we earned the trip to the postseason with our consistent play throughout both the fall and spring seasons, but we're not looking at this as a reward for a good season. We've said from day one that this was one of our goals, and now we've got to take that next step and put Tulane on the national scene with another solid showing at the Regionals.
"Back in 2000, we were excited about making the Regionals, but we had to pack our things and head out to Ohio, and we didn't play very well because the type of course we played was not a familiar one to us. But going to LSU and playing on a course we played earlier this season will give us a tremendous advantage this time around."
Sophomore Carolin Landmann paces the Green Wave squad with a 75.82 stroke average, including a pair of tournament wins that helped her earn first-team All-Conference USA honors. She was joined on the league's first team by teammate Kathy Schafer, a junior, who averages 76.96 strokes per 18.
Rookie Alexis Wooster, who earned C-USA Freshman of the Year, second-team all-conference and all-freshman honors, is next on the club with a 77.39 average, followed by fellow freshman Lindsay Hulwick (78.50) and senior captain Marcela Gonzalez (78.57).
As a team, Tulane is averaging 305.5 strokes per round, including a season-best 291 in the first round of the C-USA Championship last week at Hattiesburg Country Club.
The top eight finishers from each Regional advance to the National Tournament which will be held at Washington National Golf Course in Auburn, Wash. In their only previous trip to the NCAA's, the Green Wave finished 24th at the East Regional in Columbus, Ohio.
