May 23, 2002
AUBURN, Wash. - The Purdue women's golf team moved up to 14th place after the first three rounds of the 2002 NCAA Women's Golf Championships in Auburn, Wash.
The Boilermakers fired a third-round 297. They opened the event with a first-round 304 and carded a 300 on Wednesday. They have a three-day total of 897. Purdue was in 18th place after the first round and improved to 15th after the second round. Arizona leads the field with a three-day total of 874.
"The positive thing is that we are improving each day and that bodes well for the final round," said coach Devon Brouse. "We've improved each but not by enough strokes. We had our chances today and were playing really well. Things got away from us on the back nine a bit but overall we didn't play too bad."
Senior Caroline Laurens led the way for the Boilermakers in the third round with a two-under par 70. Laurens nearly played error-free golf with three birdies and one bogey. She is tied for 17th place with a three-day total of 219.
Junior Heather Zielinski carded a third-round 77 and is tied for 27th with a 222. Junior Kari Damron is fired a two-over 74 on Thursday and is tied for 41st with a 223.
"I played the front nine with no problems," said Zielinski. "I'm not sure why but I struggled on the back nine. I didn't hit the ball as well today as I did the first two days."
Sophomore Beth Hermes is tied for 105th with a three-day total of 234. She shot a third-round 76. Senior Christy Rittenhouse notched a 78 on Thursday and is tied for 108th with a total of 236 over the first three days.
"We should be able to go out tomorrow and not have any pressure," said Brouse. "That can be a huge help for us because we can play relaxed with nothing to lose."
This is the third-straight season that the Boilermakers have advanced to the NCAA Championships. The Boilermakers finished 20th at the 2001 NCAA Championships.
Live scoring is provided by www.golfstat.com. A link is provided on the main page of www.purduesports.com.
The event is being held at the 6,273-yard, par-72 Washington National Golf Club. The final round begins on Friday at 8 a.m. PST.
Place Individual 1st Rd. 2nd Rd. 3rd Rd. 4th Rd. Total T-17 Caroline Laurens 74 75 70 219 +3T-27 Heather Zielinski 74 71 77 222 +6T-41 Kari Damron 78 71 74 223 +7T-105 Beth Hermes 79 79 76 234 +18T-108 Christy Rittenhouse 78 80 78 236 +20
Place Team 1st Rd. 2nd Rd. 3rd Rd. 4th Rd. Total 1st Arizona 285 296 293 874 +102nd Texas 305 286 285 876 +123rd Duke 294 293 290 877 +134th Auburn 298 300 285 883 +195th Florida 298 291 295 884 +20 Georgia 294 294 296 884 +207th Arizona State 301 292 292 885 +218th Ohio State 299 292 296 887 +239th Oklahoma 299 289 301 889 +25 Stanford 299 295 295 889 +2511th Pepperdine 301 294 297 892 +2812th California 298 303 292 893 +2913th Tulsa 302 297 296 895 +3114th Purdue 304 296 297 897 +3315th Michigan 301 299 299 899 +35 Oklahoma State 299 303 297 899 +35 USC 307 294 298 899 +3518th Vanderbilt 311 296 296 903 +3919th South Carolina 298 298 308 904 +40 Washington 302 297 305 904 +4021st Wake Forest 298 305 302 905 +4122nd UCLA 314 297 298 909 +4523rd Michigan State 305 297 311 913 +4924th South Florida 313 322 323 958 +94