Women's Golf Inks Lee, Tait During Early Signing Period
Nov 10, 2004 | Women's Golf
Nov. 10, 2004
NEW ORLEANS, La. - High school golf standouts Kasi Lee of Paramus, N.J., and Ashley Tait of Littleton, Colo., have signed National Letters of Intent to play for the Green Wave beginning in 2005-06, Tulane head women's golf coach Sue Bower announced Wednesday.
Lee and Tait are expected to replace graduating seniors Lindsay Hulwick and Alexis Wooster in the Green Wave lineup. Both come to Tulane with impressive amateur and junior credentials as Lee earned honorable-mention All-America recognition from the AJGA in 2004, and Tait is the reigning Colorado High School Athletic Association Girls Golf Champion.
"This is another positive day for the Tulane golf program. At the end of this season, we'll be losing seniors Lindsay Hulwick and Alexis Wooster, both of whom have been instrumental to our current success. Kasi Lee and Ashley Tait are accomplished players in their own right, and should help us maintain our high level of play in the future."
Lee comes as a heralded, well-traveled recruit after living in Korea, Argentina, Switzerland and Ireland before coming to the United States in 2002. In addition to living in a wide variety of countries and cultures, Lee has excelled in a variety of golf arenas, including amateur golf, junior golf and both boys and girls high school golf.
She qualified for both the U.S. Women's Amateur and Women's Amateur Public Links in 2004, a rare combination for any player, let alone a 17-year-old who just finished her junior year of high school. At the Public Links, Lee shot a 148 (77-71) to qualify for match play, and she lost the sudden-death playoff for the 64th and final match play spot in the Women's Amateur.
As a junior player, Lee's decorated career was highlighted by a win at the AJGA Greater Hartford Junior with a 54-hole score of 220 (73-72-75). Then, at Paramus High School, Lee had a round of 68 in the New Jersey State Girls High School Championship, in which she fired a record-setting 29 on the back nine. Overall, she finished second in the state in 2003 behind the U.S. Junior Champion, and she also finished fourth in the boys competition with a 74 at the state championship. Lee chose Tulane over Arizona State, Auburn and LSU.
 Kasi Lee signed with Tulane after earning AJGA All-America honors in 2004.  | |
Tait, who ranks 71st among U.S. Junior players and 34th among graduating seniors, comes to Tulane from the same hometown as Hulwick. Tait's Colorado Junior Championship came in 2003 with a score of 220 (69-76-75), and she won the state high school championship in May 2004 with a 151 (77-74).
During the summer of 2004, Tait paced the Colorado team in the Junior America's Cup with a 224 (75-74-75) which ranked 12th overall in the event. Also in the summer of 2004 Ashley successfully made it through the first stage of qualifying for the U.S. Women's Open with a score of 75.
She then punctuated a fine junior career with three outstanding finishes. In Aug. 2004, Tait was second in the AJGA TransAmerican Junior, and immediately followed that up with a win at the prestigious Mary Cave Cup where she shot a 145 (75-70) and defeated several of California's top juniors. Then, in October, Tait won the Colorado Junior Golf Association Tournament of Champions with a 151 (75-76). Tait chose Tulane over Colorado State and Denver.
"Ashley is the daughter of a PGA Professional and it certainly shows as she has a very fundamentally sound golf swing which is a major factor in her consistently strong play," Bower said.
Lee and Tait will join a solid corps of talented golfers in Fall 2005 as the Green Wave will return defending Conference USA individual champion Liliana Alvarez, the 2004 Big East individual champ Alison Walshe, as well as 2004 C-USA Freshman of the Year Mary Ellen Jacobs.
Players Mentioned
