Field Set for 2002 NCAA Women's Golf Championship
May 12, 2002
Seattle - A field of 24 teams and six individuals will compete for the NCAA Division I Women's Golf Championship May 21-24 at Washington National Golf Club in Auburn. The 72-hole tournament consist of both team and individual competitions conducted concurrently. In the team competition, the four low scores for each team will count in each day's total score. Tee times start at 8 a.m. each day.
Tickets for the Championship are $20 for an all-session adult and $15 for all-session student. Single-session tickets are $8 for adults and $6 for student. Tickets may be purchased at the entrance of Washington National Golf Club.
Seven Pac-10 teams qualified for the championship, including UCLA, which tied with Pepperdine for the NCAA West Regional Championship. Duke won the East title while Tulsa finished first at the Central Regional.
This year's individual field is highlighted by Arizona sophomore Lorena Ochoa, the NCAA West Regional champion and the nation's top ranked player according to Golfweek's Performance Index.
Ochoa's regional title marked the eighth time this season she has won medalist honors. She shot three consecutive rounds of 70 for a 6-under-par 210 total at Stanford Golf Course. Last September Ochoa won the first of her tournaments when she took top honors at the rain-shorted Fall Preview at Washington National with a 36-hole score of 5-under 139.
Auburn, the nation's top-ranked team in the April 28 Golfweek rankings, tied Texas for the Fall Preview title at 591. The Tigers finished second at the NCAA East Regional behind Duke. The Blue Devils score of 859 was 13 strokes better than Auburn. Duke's Candy Hannemann, currently ranked seventh by Golfweek, is the defending NCAA Champion. She defeated Ochoa in a playoff at last year's at the Mission Inn Golf Resort in Howey-in-the-Hills, Fla.
Duke's Leigh Anne Hardin won the East Regional championship with a score of 210. Tulsa senior Stacy Prammanasudh won the Central Region title with a score of 219.
Georgia, which finished seventh at this year's East Regional, is the defending national champions. Last year the Lady Bulldogs came from behind in the final round to defeat Duke 1,176 to 1,179.
Topping the group of six individuals whose teams did not qualify for the Championship is LSU's Meredith Duncan. Last year the Lady Tiger senior won the U.S. Amateur Championship.
Washington, which finished tied for sixth at the West Regional, will feature four players on its five-person roster. That group is headed up by senior All-American Kelli Kamimura, who is playing in her second NCAA Championship after finishing 29th last year and leading UW to a 16th-place finish. The Huskies other local players include sophomore Lindsay Morgan (Walla Walla), junior Michelle Grafos (Spokane) and freshman Paige Mackenzie (Yakima). UW's roster is rounded out by junior Louise Friberg (Helsingborg, Sweden).
Another local player who will challenge for individual honors is Arizona State sophomore Jimin Kang. The Edmonds native won the Pac-10 Championship this season, beating Ochoa by one stroke.
East Region Qualifers
1 Duke 291 280 288 859 2 Auburn 287 293 292 872 3 Wake Forest 293 288 294 875 4 Florida 286 290 302 878 5 South Florida 289 296 298 883 6 South Carolina 298 293 298 889 7 Georgia 300 295 297 892 8 Vanderbilt 296 296 301 893
Individual Qualifiers
Meredith Duncan, LSU
Meaghan Francella, Memphis
Central Region Qualifers
1 Tulsa 315 309 290 914 2 Texas 316 310 292 918 Ohio State 311 310 297 918 4 Purdue 309 314 297 920 5 Oklahoma State 306 319 296 921 6 Michigan 313 322 294 929 7 Oklahoma 319 306 306 931 8 Michigan State 310 327 295 932
Individual Qualifiers
Melanie Hagewood, Baylor
Martina Gillen, Kent State
West Region Qualifers
1 UCLA 296 299 288 883 Pepperdine 289 303 291 883 3 California 297 298 294 889 4 Arizona 299 300 291 890 5 Stanford 303 304 294 901 6 Arizona State 308 304 292 904 Washington 310 303 291 904 8 Southern California 309 307 292 908
Individual Qualifiers
Alena Sharp, New Mexico State
Kristi Larson, New Mexico
