Huskies Climb Back to 10th at NCAA Golf
May 19, 2005
Sunriver, Ore. - The 10th-ranked Washington women's golf team moved up four spots to a tie for 10th with Tennessee and Florida entering Friday's final round of play at the NCAA Championships in Sunriver, Ore. The Huskies shot 12-over 296 during the third round. That score was an improvement of 18 strokes from their disappointing second round that dropped them to 14th on the leaderboard.
The Huskies were again led by the combination of junior Paige Mackenzie and sophomore Amber Prange who both players improved their standing in the individual ranks. Mackenzie will enter the final round tied for ninth at 6-over 219 while Prange is 16th at 8-over 221. Prange led the Huskies with a 1-over 72 while Mackenzie shot 73.
Both players will attempt to record the first top-10 finish at the NCAAs in school history. Mackenzie was 11th at last year's NCAAs and 25th as a freshman.
"There was some good and some bad," said UW coach Mary Lou Mulflur. "We could have done a better job of taking advantage of some opportunities to make up more ground, but we did manage to improve our overall position. We started poorly and did not finish strong. The middle of our round was better.
Washington's four scoring players played the first three and final three holes a combined 11-over.
"We know if we play like we are capable, then we have a chance to move up into the top-10 on the last day. That's what we're going to try and accomplish."
"Our normal strongest day is our last day," Prange said. "We're just used to coming from behind. With everyone playing better today, I think that will help all of us tomorrow."
Duke's Anna Grzebien vaulted to the top of the standings by shooting 6-under 65 in the breezy conditions to take a four stroke lead over teammate Brittany Lang. Grzebien enters the final round at even par 213. Grzebien and Lang's scores helped the Blue Devils make an impressive run into first place.
Duke shot a tournament best 6-under 278 for a 54-hole total of 873. Auburn is in second place at 881 while UCLA is third at 882.
Washington's score was aided by Sung Ea Lee's 75 and Courtney McCracken's 76. None of the Huskies' scoring players had to count anything above a bogie. Kim Shin finished the day as the team's non-scorer with a 78. For the tournament, Lee is 70thy at 230, McCracken is 84th at 232 and Shin is 122nd at 242.
Mackenzie got off to a slow start, posting bogies on her first three holes. She managed to rally with four birdies over a six-hole stretch as she closed out her front nine and started the friendlier final nine holes.
"I felt good that I posted a 73," Mackenzie said. "That's probably what I deserved to shoot today. I dug myself into a hole starting out with three bogies. That was a tough start but I was able to stay patient and fought my way back."
Prange was stellar on the back nine, posting a 3-under score for that side of the Sunriver course.
"I was getting a little down on myself on the front nine," Prange said. "I got a birdie on number 10 and that got me going. When I went birdie, birdie (on 13 and 14), I just told myself to take it one shot at a time and not to try and get ahead of myself."
The Huskies will start their final round at 12:30 from the 10th tee. They will be paired with Tennessee and Florida.
A recap of Thursday's third round will air on The Golf Channel at 10 p.m. PT. It will replay Thursday at 2 p.m PT. Live scoring of the even can be found at golfstat.com
2005 NCAA Divison I Women's Golf Championships
The Meadows Course
Sunriver, Ore.
Par-71, 6312 yards
Third Round Results
Team Results1. Duke 292-303-278-873 2. Auburn 290-296-295-881 2. UCLA 288-302-292-882 4. Pepperdine 291-295-299-885 5. California 295-299-296-890 6. Arkansas 296-307-293-896 7. Ohio State 301-296-300-897 8. Southern California 287-312-301-900 9. Arizona State 304-301-297-901 10. Tennessee 300-303-297-901 10. Florida 301-304-297-902 10. Washington 292-314-296-902 13. Missouri 307-300-296-903 13. Oklahoma State 298-306-299-903 15. Michigan State 304-301-299-904 16. Virginia 304-308-295-907 17. Stanford 300-311-298-909 18. UC Irvine 311-304-297-912 19. Purdue 309-302-304-915 20. Tulane 305-312-299-916 21. Furman 307-301-309-917 22. Texas A&M 305-306-309-920 23. Tulsa 307-313-310-930 24. Brigham Young 305-317-316-938
Individual Leaders 1. Anna Grzebien, Duke 73-75-65-213 2. Brittany Lang, Duke 74-75-68-217 2. Charlotte Mayorkas, UCLA 71-73-73-217 4. Nicole Hage, Auburn 73-75-71-219 4. Carolina Llano, Pepperdine 69-77-72-218 4. Dewi Schreefel, USC 70-74-74-218 4. Brooke Shelton, LSU 71-75-72-218 4. Leah Wigger, Virginia 73-72-73-218 9. Claire Dury, California 74-73-72-219 9. Paige Mackenzie, Washington 72-74-73-216 9. Mandi McConnell, Michigan State 76-73-70-219 12. Amie Cochran, UCLA 71-79-70-220 12. Diana Ramage, Auburn 73-71-76-220 12. Karin Sjodin, Oklahoma State 71-78-71-220 12. Erin Tone, Arizona State 75-73-72-220
Washington Scores 9. Paige Mackenzie 72-74-73-219 16. Amber Prange 72-77-72-221 70. Sung Ea Lee 74-81-75-230 84. Courtney McCracken 74-82-76-232 122. Kim Shin 79-85-78-242
