Tulsa
NCAA Championships
Tulsa Women in 16th Place at NCAA Golf Championships
5/21/2002 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
May 21, 2002
Auburn, Washington - After the first round of the NCAA Division I Women's Golf Championship, Tulsa finds itself in a not too unfamiliar position from two weeks ago, when the Hurricane women sat in ninth place and trailed the first round leader by 11 strokes at the NCAA Central Regional. The Hurricane came storming back in the next two rounds and captured a four-stroke victory at the regional event.
This time Tulsa will have to battle back from a 17-stroke deficit. Today, the Hurricane carded a 14-over par 302 round and is in a tie for 16th place with host Washington at the par-72 Washington National Golf Club course. Despite the 16th place performance, the Hurricane is just four strokes out of fourth-place and eight strokes back from second-place.
"We had our bad round today. This year we've been able to bounce back with a good round following a bad day. It's just something about this team," said Tulsa Head Coach Melissa McNamara. "I don't have any doubts that we'll shoot a good round tomorrow. We're in a pack with only four strokes separating 13 teams."
Arizona ran away from the field on the first day with a three-under par score of 285. The Wildcats have a nine-stroke lead heading into Wednesday's second round.
Duke and Georgia are tied for second-place after rounds of 294 today. There's a logjam for fourth-place as five teams - Auburn, California, Florida, South Carolina and Wake Forest - are all tied at 10-over par 298, while four teams are tied for ninth-place one stroke back at 11-over par 299. Those four schools are Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Stanford.
Duke's Virada Nirapathpongpom is the individual leader following her four-under par round of 68. Gerogia's Summer Sirmons sits one shot back at three-under par 69, while her teammate Angela Jerman is in a seven-way tie for third-place at two-under 70. The leading Arizona Wildcats had three golfers shoot under par today, including Laura Myerscough's two-under par 70, as well as a one-under par rounds 71 from Mar Garcia and the nation's top-ranked Lorena Ochoa.
For the Hurricane, senior Dani Mallon led the way with a one-over par round of 73. She had two bogeys and one birdie on the day and sits in a 19th-place tie. Mallon bogeyed two par-4 holes, including the sixth and 15th, while knocking in a birdie putt on hole seven. Junior Maiko Senda carded a two-over par round of 74 and is in a tie for 30th place.
Tulsa All-American Stacy Prammanasudh rebounded after a five-over par front nine by shooting two-under on the back nine. She had a triple-bogey on the third hole, then bogeyed holes five, seven and eight. Prammanasudh got in a groove on the back nine, as she birdied the par-5 14th hole and par-3 16th enroute to her first round score of four-over par 76.
"Stacy started out not so good with the triple on the third hole. It was a tough first nine holes for her with such high expectations coming in. She felt like she kind of let her team down, but she showed how competitive and solid a golfer she is with a two-under on the back nine," said McNamara. "It was very inspiring to see our number four and five golfers -- Dani and Maiko - play well today. They held us together."
The Hurricane had to count one of two 79s turned in by sophomores Suzie Fisher and Julie Tvede. After starting the day with a birdie on the first hole, Tvede suffered two double bogeys for her seven-over par score of 79.
Tulsa will tee-off at 8:00 am (pacific time) beginning on the 10th tee on Wednesday. Tulsa once again will be paired with Duke and UCLA. The 72-hole tournament will conclude on Friday.
TOP-15 TEAMS 1. Arizona 285 (-3) 2. Duke 294 (+6) Georgia 294 (+6) 4. Auburn 298 (+10) California 298 (+10) Florida 298 (+10) South Carolina 298 (+10) Wake Forest 298 (+10) 9. Ohio State 299 (+11) Oklahoma 299 (+11) Oklahoma State 299 (+11) Stanford 299 (+11) 13. Arizona State 301 (+13) Michigan 301 (+13) Pepperdine 301 (+13) 16. Tulsa 302 (+14) Washington 302 (+14)
TOP INDIVIDUALS 1. Virada Nirapathpongpom, Duke 68 (-4) 2. Summer Sirmons, Georgia 69 (-3) 3. Angela Jerman, Georgia 70 (-2) Laura Myerscough, Arizona 70 (-2) Janice Olivencia, Texas 70 (-2) Alena Sharp, New Mexico State 70 (-2) Jennifer Tannehill, Oklahoma 70 (-2) Marcia Wallis, Stanford 70 (-2) Lindsey Wright, Pepperdine 70 (-2) 10. Nuria Clau, Wake Forest 71 (-1) Mar Garcia, Arizona 71 (-1) Lorena Ochoa, Arizona 71 (-1) Andrea Vander Lende, Florida 71 (-1)
TULSA SCORES T19 Dani Mallon, Tulsa 73 (+1) T30 Maiko Senda, Tulsa 74 (+2) T55 Stacy Prammanasudh, Tulsa 76 (+4) T94 Suzie Fisher, Tulsa 79 (+7) T94 Julie Tvede, Tulsa 79 (+7)
