Texas Tech University Athletics
Women's Golf NCAA Regional Bound
April 25, 2005 | Women's Golf
April 25, 2005
LUBBOCK, Texas - The No.48 Texas Tech women's golf team will, for the second-straight year, compete at the NCAA Regionals, announced by the NCAA committee today. Tech will not only get the chance to qualify for its first NCAA Championship, but will also play host to the NCAA Central Regional for the first time in school history.
The Lady Raiders will bring to the event three seniors who all have NCAA experience. Seniors Megan Hull and Kim Kolb both are coming off stellar performances at the Big 12 Championships where both set new career-high tournament finishes of tied for 10th and 19th, respectively. Senior Sheila Mendez, who has been a contributor to the team all year long, will also be making her second-straight appearance at the Regionals.
Along with the experience, the Red and Black boast a highly competitive and talented supporting cast in freshman Valerie Tan and Marla Troester. Tan, who in just her first year of competition, has already posted three top-20 finishes, two of which were in the top 10. Troester also brings a hot club to the greens, as she is coming off a solid performance at the Big 12 Championships.
The Lady Raiders will be competing for a spot in the NCAA Championships next week which will not come easy amongst a highly talented field. The field includes Auburn, Arizona State, New Mexico, Louisiana State, Wake Forest, Texas, Missouri, Arkansas, Michigan, Tulsa, TCU, SMU, Purdue, Michigan State, Kent State, Baylor, Texas A&M, South Florida, Texas Tech, Notre Dame and Long Island. The three individuals that will be competing will be Louise Kenney (Iowa State), Emily Milberger (Oklahoma) and Merynn Ito (Nebraska).
Tech, though it has home-green advantage on its side, will have to finish in the top 8 at the Regionals to move onto the NCAA Championships. The top-two individuals will also advance to the NCAA Championhips. If the Raiders do finish in the top 10, the 2004-05 squad will have brought the Tech women's golf program its first trip to the NCAA Championships in school history.
While Head Coach Stacey Totman is excited about making the Regionals, she hopes her women will not stop here.
"It is an honor to make it to the Regionals, especially with a lot of great teams not making it," said Totman. "This has been one of our many goals this year was to make it to the Regional, but the ultimate goal is to be playing in the NCAA Championships."
In last year's NCAA Women's West Regional, the Lady Raiders just missed their chance to make history by nine-strokes as the Red and Black finished tied for 13th at the event. One advantage this year's team will have is experience, as last year's squad boasted only one competitor in senior Jackie Ey who had previously been to the Regionals.
This year's trip to the NCAA Regionals will mark the third time in five years the Lady Raiders have made a trip to the post season (2001, 2004-2005).
"It's just exciting to hear your name called on the selection call," said senior Megan Hull. "It's definitely an advantage having three seniors who have competed at the Regionals before, and home course advantage is crucial."
The Rawls Course (Par 72, 7,100 yards) in Lubbock, Texas, the location of the 2005 Women's NCAA Central Regional, opened its greens to the public and became home to the Tech Men and Women's Golf Teams in September of 2003. Since its opening the course has played host to numerous local tournaments, as well as the Women's Central Regional Preview in 2004.
Though the course has only been operating since 2003, it has already garnered national attention. The course's designer and creator, Tom Doak, was also the mastermind of the Pacific Dunes Course, a golf course in Bandon, Ore., which was named the No.1 new-upscale course in 2001. In 2003, Doak's most recent masterpiece, The Rawls Course, was named the third-best university owned golf course by Golfweek Magazine.
The NCAA Central Regional is set to begin Thurs., May 5, and will run through Sat., May 7.
The NCAA Central Regional will feature livescoring available at www.golfstat.com throughout competition. You can also find scores and results at Texas Tech's official athletic website at www.texastech.com.
Players Mentioned
