April 29, 2002
URBANA, Ill. - The Purdue women's golf team was 11 strokes away from capturing its second Big Ten Championship in the last three years. The Boilermakers carded a final-round 329 in cold and windy conditions and finished second to Ohio State at the 2002 Women's Golf Big Ten Championships in Urbana, Ill.
The event was held at the par-72, 6,276-yard Stone Creek Golf Club and hosted by the University of Illinois. Each school had six individuals participate in each round, with the top four scores counting towards the team's total.
The Boilermakers led the championship after the first three rounds at 901 and led the Buckeyes by two strokes with 18 holes to play. The first nine holes of the third round were played on Saturday and then completed on Sunday morning after rain interrupted Saturday afternoon action. Four Boilermakers fired scores in the 70s during the third round.
"We got an unlucky break yesterday with the bad weather because we were playing great at that time," said head coach Devon Brouse. "We knew we had a lead on Saturday night but we didn't know by how much."
The Buckeyes fired a final-round 317 and had three individuals break 80 on the final-18 holes. OSU's Mollie Fankhouse took home top-individual honors after carding a 304.
Senior Caroline Laurens led the Boilermakers on the weekend and tied for second place overall with a 305. Laurens' first three rounds were in the 70s including a first-round 72. She was one of three Boilermakers who carded a final-round 82.
"Caroline was disappointed that she finished in second place much like the team was disappointed in its second-place finish," said Brouse. "But she played really consistent golf and had three rounds in the 70s and was our top competitor this weekend."
Junior Heather Zielinski completed her third round on Sunday morning with a 77 and then fired a final-round 84. She finished tied for seventh place overall. Sophomore Beth Hermes recorded a four-round total of 312 and tied for 12th place overall, her highest finish of the season.
Senior Andrea Makauskas tied for 18th after carding a 314 over four rounds. She tied for the team low with a final-round 82 after recording three rounds in the 70s.
Junior All-America candidate Kari Damron and senior Christy Rittenhouse tied for 20th after four-round 315s. Rittenhouse fired a final-round 83 while Damron carded a final-round 84.
Damron was named to the Big Ten's All-Conference team, which was announced on Sunday. It's her third such honor in the past three seasons and continues Purdue's streak of having at least one individual on the all-conference team in each of the past six years.
Winds of up to 35 mph blew on Sunday making for miserable conditions on the course.
"That was probably the worst I've ever seen the conditions on a golf course for a tournament," said Brouse. "You know its brutal when the average score for the final round is up around 84."
Purdue was the only school to have all six participants in the top 20 and one of three schools to have three golfers in the top 15.
The Boilermakers led the event after the first round after firing a 294. Through 18 holes, the Old and Black had three golfers in the top five of the individual standings. In the second round, the Boilermakers carded a 297.
The No. 21 Boilermakers were one of three Big Ten schools ranked in the top 25 of the Golfweek/Sagarin golf rankings. Ohio State is ranked fourth and Michigan State is 13th.
The Boilermakers now prepare for the NCAA Regional Championships in Lansing, Mich., on May 9 to 11.
Place Individual 1st Rd. 2nd Rd. 3rd Rd. 4th Rd. Total T-2nd Caroline Laurens 72 74 77 82 305T-7th Heather Zielinski 76 73 77 84 310T-12th Beth Hermes 76 74 80 82 312T-18th Andrea Makauskas 78 76 78 82 314T-20th Christy Rittenhouse 73 78 81 83 315T-20th Kari Damron 73 80 78 84 315
Place Team 1st Rd. 2nd Rd. 3rd Rd. 4th Rd. Total1st Ohio State 297 289 317 317 12202nd Purdue 294 297 310 329 12303rd Michigan 302 296 318 320 12364th Michigan State 300 305 326 320 12515th Illinois 307 299 332 323 12726th Indiana 305 292 335 340 1275 Northwestern 304 302 335 334 12758th Penn State 315 306 337 338 12969th Iowa 318 305 337 336 129610th Wisconsin 303 312 340 345 130011th Minnesota 314 311 334 343 1302