CORVALLIS, Ore. - Scores dipped Friday at the NCAA Division I Women's West Regional as players adjusted to warmer temperatures and the punishing rough at Trysting Tree Golf Club.
Nine players slipped in under par during the second round, compared to just four on Thursday. Arizona State freshman Jimin Kang carded a 66 for the day's low round.
"I made a lot of birdies and one eagle today," Kang said of her collegiate low round. "I almost made another putt for eagle but I just missed it."
Kang's 6-under score moved Arizona State into a tie for third place with Michigan State, 23 strokes behind Arizona. Stanford sits in second, 15 shots behind the Wildcats.
Ohio State and UCLA are tied for fifth in the team standings, while Southern California shot a 298 to move into seventh and Tennessee is eighth. Eight teams will advance to the NCAA Division I Women's Championship, to be played May 22-25 near Orlando, Fla.
"It seemed like we struggled today but looking at our scores I'm really happy," said Arizona coach Greg Allen.
Arizona freshman Natalie Gulbis carded her second-straight 68 for an individual total of 136.
"Yesterday I hit all the fairways and greens. Today I really scrambled for the same score," Gulbis said. "At the beginning of the day I missed a couple 2- or 3-footers, but toward the end I was making them. I was missing shots and getting up-and-down anyway."
The rough spelled trouble again for many golfers, but those in low numbers managed to avoid it.
"I was in the rough once today," said Stanford sophomore Kim Rowton, who shot a 2-under 70. "Yesterday I was in the rough two or three times. Even just not getting in two more times saved four strokes."
And some players who found the rough off the tee elected to just punch out, or decided not to hit their balls from the covered lies.
"Kim, I'm taking an unplayable," Gulbis called to playing partner Rowton after driving left into the knee-high grass on the par-5 fifth. Even with the penalty stroke, Gulbis managed a par on the hole.
"You have to be patient," said Tennessee's Young-A Yang. "The rough is so hard that after you hit it off the tee, you think, 'Thank god I didn't go in.'"
Yang's 68 gave her the second lowest score of the day with Arizona's Gulbis and bumped her team, Tennessee, into the eighth spot going into the final round.
UCLA's Laura Moffat also carded a 68. Ohio State junior Natalie Aber shot a 69, along with Washington's Kelli Kamimura.
In addition to Rowton's 70 for Stanford, Michigan State's Emily Bastel and Arizona's Lorena Ochoa also shot 1-under 71s.
Teams near the cutoff headed out to the range to get in just a little more practice after their rounds, hoping it would make the difference in the final round.
"We've just gotta play better," said Mary Lou Mulflur, coach of the ninth-placed Washington Huskies. "We haven't had a whole team effort, just two or three people."
Thursday, May 31, 2001
Wildcats set early pace at NCAA West Regional
CORVALLIS, Ore. - Fifteen shots separate the Arizona women's golf team from the rest of the pack after one round at the NCAA Division I Women's West Regional.
Freshmen Natalie Gulbis, with a 4-under 68, and Lorena Ochoa, who carded a 2-under 70, led the Wildcats to a 287 team total and into the top spot after teeing off early Thursday at the par-72 Trysting Tree Golf Club.
"I was very happy with my round -- it was very clean," said Gulbis, No. 3 in the Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index. "I was sick yesterday, so I didn't have a practice round. There were a couple of holes I hadn't even seen."
Even though she was unfamiliar with the course, Gulbis had the only round in the 60s. Ohio State sophomore Mollie Fankhauser joined Ochoa with a 70. Arizona State's Jimin Kang shot a 71.
"I had eight one-putts. My putting was better than it has been all season," said Kang, a freshman. "I was pretty solid and I played smart."
Stanford (302) is a distant second in the team race, but coach Caroline O'Connor said she was pleased with the mental toughness of her squad, each of whom scored in the 70s.
"There were some double bogeys, even triple bogeys, but they held it together. If the players made errant shots, they got up on the next tee and put it behind them," O'Connor said.
Errant shots were indeed the problem for most of the field, with shin-high rough penalizing players who weren't straight off the tee.
"This rough is a real penalty for the person getting in it," said rules official Don Kowitz. "It's hard to keep up the pace of play with so many lost balls."
Wind from the northeast at 10 to 15 mph also made it tough for players trying to keep it in the fairway.
"You have to hit the ball straight -- (a lot) depends on your tee shot," Ochoa said. "I only missed one fairway all day. I hit my driver good."
Top-ranked Ochoa said she had to struggle with her club selection at times.
"In Tucson, the altitude is very different. I was hitting an extra club, plus the wind. Sometimes I was 140 away hitting a 6-iron," she said.
Several teams were just behind Stanford after the first round. Michigan State recorded a 304 after solid mid-70s scores from three of its players.
Memphis came out of the gates with a 305, good for fourth place. Ohio State had a 306 on the strength of Fankhauser's 70, and UCLA was in sixth place with 307.
The top eight teams and two individuals not on those teams from the West Regional will advance to the NCAA Women's Championship, scheduled for May 22-25 near Orlando, Fla.
Freshmen Natalie Gulbis, with a 4-under 68, and Lorena Ochoa, who carded a 2-under 70, led the Wildcats to a 287 team total and into the top spot after teeing off early Thursday at the par-72 Trysting Tree Golf Club.
"I was very happy with my round -- it was very clean," said Gulbis, No. 3 in the Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index. "I was sick yesterday, so I didn't have a practice round. There were a couple of holes I hadn't even seen."
Even though she was unfamiliar with the course, Gulbis had the only round in the 60s. Ohio State sophomore Mollie Fankhauser joined Ochoa with a 70. Arizona State's Jimin Kang shot a 71.
"I had eight one-putts. My putting was better than it has been all season," said Kang, a freshman. "I was pretty solid and I played smart."
Stanford (302) is a distant second in the team race, but coach Caroline O'Connor said she was pleased with the mental toughness of her squad, each of whom scored in the 70s.
"There were some double bogeys, even triple bogeys, but they held it together. If the players made errant shots, they got up on the next tee and put it behind them," O'Connor said.
Errant shots were indeed the problem for most of the field, with shin-high rough penalizing players who weren't straight off the tee.
"This rough is a real penalty for the person getting in it," said rules official Don Kowitz. "It's hard to keep up the pace of play with so many lost balls."
Wind from the northeast at 10 to 15 mph also made it tough for players trying to keep it in the fairway.
"You have to hit the ball straight -- (a lot) depends on your tee shot," Ochoa said. "I only missed one fairway all day. I hit my driver good."
Top-ranked Ochoa said she had to struggle with her club selection at times.
"In Tucson, the altitude is very different. I was hitting an extra club, plus the wind. Sometimes I was 140 away hitting a 6-iron," she said.
Several teams were just behind Stanford after the first round. Michigan State recorded a 304 after solid mid-70s scores from three of its players.
Memphis came out of the gates with a 305, good for fourth place. Ohio State had a 306 on the strength of Fankhauser's 70, and UCLA was in sixth place with 307.
The top eight teams and two individuals not on those teams from the West Regional will advance to the NCAA Women's Championship, scheduled for May 22-25 near Orlando, Fla.
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