Tulane University
NCAA East Regional
Women's Golf Finishes Ninth At NCAA East Regional
May 11, 2002 | Women's Golf
May 11, 2002
BATON ROUGE, La. - Senior captain Marcela Gonzalez shot a one-over par 73 to finish the tournament with a career-best 223 to lead the Tulane University women's golf team to a ninth place finish Saturday afternoon at the 2002 NCAA East Regional at the University Club hosted by LSU.
Gonzalez, whose previous career-best was a 234 at the 2000 Liz Murphy Intercollegiate Classic, helped Tulane to its best-ever finish in the postseason, but the Green Wave fell just one stroke shy of finishing eight and qualifying for the NCAA Championships for the first time in school history.
"If someone would have told me that we would finish ninth in the regionals at the beginning of the season, I would have said, 'Yeah, right,'" head coach Sue Bower said. "This disappointment will go away and there will be some satisfaction in what we've accomplished this year.
"We've been defying the odds all year. Our three veterans from last year gave us experience, but our freshmen brought a sense of determination. We've talked about regional and nationals from the first week of practice and its disappointing to come this close and fall short. It's hard to shed too many tears, but this will not take away from what we've accomplished this season. Coming this close will drive us to get back here next season, and then take the program to that next step."
Tulane, which fired an 11-over 299, fell one shot behind Vanderbilt for the eighth-place spot, and just two behind seventh-place Georgia.
Gonzalez and junior Kathy Schafer finished the tournament tied for 34th in the individual standings with seven-over 223s as the junior from Bogota, Colombia joined Gonzalez with a 73 on the final day. Sophomore Carolin Landmann and freshman Lindsay Hulwick finished tied for 58th with 11-over 227s, and rookie Alexis Wooster finished tied for 60th with a 228.
Duke earned the team title with a five-under 859, finishing 13 strokes better than runner-up Auburn which fired an eight-over 872. Leigh Anne Hardin of the Blue Devil squad won the individual championship with a six-under par 210, one stroke better than second-place Celeste Troche of Auburn.
Team Scores: 1. Duke 291- 280- 288= 859 (-5); 2. Auburn 287- 293- 292= 872 (+8); 3. Wake Forest 293- 288- 294= 875 (+11); 4. Florida 286- 290- 302= 878 (+14); 5. South Florida 289- 296- 298= 883 (+19); 6. South Carolina 298- 293- 298= 889 (+25); 7. Georgia 300- 295- 297= 892 (+28); 8. Vanderbilt 296- 296- 301= 893 (+29); 9. Tulane 300- 295- 299= 894 (+30); 10. Tennessee 303- 306- 287= 896 (+32); 11. Memphis 299- 297- 301= 897 (+33); 12. LSU 297- 300- 301= 898 (+34); 13. Furman 298- 297- 308= 903 (+39); 14. North Carolina State 303- 303- 301= 907 (+43); 15. UCF 305- 304- 303= 912 (+48); 16. North Carolina 294- 311- 311= 916 (+52); 17. Mississippi State 307- 302- 308= 917 (+53); 18. Texas A&M 306- 299- 313= 918 (+54); 19. Alabama 308- 312- 304= 924 (+60); 20. Yale 316- 324- 327= 967 (+103); 21. Jackson State 335- 320- 331= 986 (+122)
Top Individual Scores: 1. Leigh Anne Hardin (Duke) 71- 67- 72= 210 (-6); 2. Celeste Troche (Auburn) 69- 70- 72= 211 (-5); T3. Meredith Duncan (LSU) 68- 72- 73= 213 (-3); T3. Courtney Swaim (Auburn) 70- 72- 71= 213 (-3); T5. Jameica Duncombe (South Florida) 68- 72- 75= 215 (-1); 5. Meagan Francella (Memphis) 70- 71- 74= 215 (-1)
Tulane Individual Scores: T34. Marcela Gonzalez 77- 73- 73= 223 (+7); T34. Kathy Schafer 73- 77- 73= 223 (+7); T58. Lindsay Hulwick 80- 70- 77= 227 (+11); T58. Carolin Landmann 75- 76- 76= 227 (+11); T60. Alexis Wooster 75- 76- 77= 228 (+12)
