May 11, 2002
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - A trip to Auburn, Wash., is in the making for the Purdue women's golf team, which turned in an outstanding final round at the NCAA Central Regional hosted by Michigan State to finish fourth in the field of 21. The top eight teams from the three regional sites advance to the national tournament, which will be played May 21 to 24.
Tulsa won on the Forest Akers West Golf Course with a 914. Four strokes behind were Ohio State and Texas. Purdue shot a 920. Oklahoma State placed fifth with a 921.
Rounding out the top eight were Michigan (929), Oklahoma (931) and Michigan State (932). Kent State, which led after the first and second rounds, finished ninth with a 933.
Purdue saved its best for last. The Boilermakers, who were alone in third place after shooting a 314 on the second round yesterday, lowered their stroke total by 17 to card a 297. That tied for the third-lowest round by Purdue this year, dating to the fall season.
Not surprisingly, each Purdue golfer trimmed at least one stroke from their Saturday score.
Purdue head coach Devon Brouse was thrilled about the Boilermakers' effort on their final loop and their berth in the NCAA Championships.
"We turned in a real solid number," Brouse said. "We knew coming into the final round that we couldn't get caught up in our position. We just had to focus on shooting a good score. We were in contention most of the way.
"Overall we're very pleased to advance. We'll be going to nationals with solid play throughout our lineup and hopefully will have a good showing. We're still not clicking on all cylinders, so we've still got some room for improvement over the next week."
The biggest improvement today came from junior Heather Zielinski, who chopped six strokes off her second-round score to shoot a three-over-par 75. Sophomore Beth Hermes was better by five strokes, going from an 81 to a 76.
Senior Caroline Laurens and junior Kari Damron shaved off three strokes, while senior Christy Rittenhouse cut one.
Laurens provided the most consistent golf of the weekend. The Big Ten runner-up started off with a 75, then followed it with a 76 before finishing with a one-over-par 73 in the final round. She placed third out of 108 golfers.
"I knew that I had to come through for the team," Laurens said. "We ended the second day in a good position, but we had to close it out strong by playing our best. I'm just happy that I was able to put three good rounds together and finish well."
According to Brouse, Laurens benefited from what may have impaired other golfers: strong wind.
"Caroline is at her best when enduring adverse conditions," Brouse said. "She is a strong ball-striker, so she feels like she has an advantage when the wind starts blowing."
One of Purdue's other hard hitters is Damron, who was tied for 57th after the first round but clawed her way into a tie for 11th at the conclusion of play. She shot an 82 on her first loop, then hit a 76 and a 73 to finish 15 strokes over.
"I didn't play very well in the first round, but kind of got settled in as we kept going," Damron said. "We all knew how important it was to focus on our strengths rather than worrying about how we finished. I think that eased our nerves and just let us concentrate on the game."
Rittenhouse finished with a 16-over 232, placing tied for 19th. Both Hermes and Zielinski tied for 49th with three-round scores of 238 (+22).
The medalist was Stacy Prammanasudh of Tulsa, who shot a three-over par 219 over 54 holes.
This will be the Boilermakers' third trip to the national championship tournament under Brouse, now in his fourth-year at Purdue. They finished ninth in 2000 and 20th in 2001.
This year's championship will be hosted by the University of Washington at the Washington National Golf Club.
PURDUE - NCAA CENTRAL REGIONAL RESULTSPlace Golfer Score3rd Caroline Laurens 75-76-73=224 (+8)T11th Kari Damron 82-76-73=231 (+15)T19th Christy Rittenhouse 71-81-80=232 (+16)T49th Beth Hermes 81-81-76=238 (+22)T49th Heather Zielinski 82-81-75=238 (+22)4th TEAM 309-314-297=920 (+56)
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