May 22, 2003
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Despite cutting five strokes, the Purdue women's golf team dropped from seventh to 11th place at the conclusion of the third round in the NCAA Championships on Thursday.
The 20th-ranked Boilermakers, who are hosting the Championships at the Pete Dye-designed Kampen Golf Course, combined to shoot a 304 on the third round after shooting a 309 on the second. They shot a 316 on the first round.
No. 3 Southern California remained the leader, shooting a 293 for a three-round score of 901 (+37). No. 4 Pepperdine is in second (908), followed by No. 2 Oklahoma State (912), No. 7 Texas (917) and No. 10 Florida (918). Purdue is 28 strokes out with a 929.
Purdue senior Kari Damron was in command of her game at the start, shooting par on the front nine. She bogeyed three holes on the back nine, however, to finish with a 75. Damron remains tied for fifth with a 225, five strokes behind co-leaders Mikaela Parmlid of Southern California and Andrea Vander Lende of Florida.
Damron had hoped to perform better, but is looking to rebound on Friday.
"I wish I could have helped out a little more today and shot under par, but things just didn't work out," Damron said. "I'm going to find those pins tomorrow no matter where they are and go all out."
Junior Beth Hermes made another strong improvement, knocking six strokes off her second-round score for a three-over-par 75. Hermes, who now is tied for 86th (242), shot an 86 on the first round, and an 81 on the second.
Senior Heather Zielinski matched her second-round 76, and now is tied for 48th, with a 233.
Freshman Onnarin Sattayabanphot recorded an eagle on the sixth hole en route to a 79. She is tied for 68th (237).
Senior Heather Suhr carded a 78, and now is tied for 72nd (238).
Like Damron, Purdue head coach Devon Brouse had hoped for a better performance. But he, too, is counting on a strong effort on Friday's final round.
"I wasn't happy at all with how we played," Brouse said. "I think we can play this golf course a lot better than we have the last three days. Tomorrow we have three girls playing their last college round, so hopefully they will play with some inspiration."
The weather in West Lafayette was nearly picture-perfect, with sunny skies and temperatures reaching the high 60s. The wind that impacted scores on the first and second rounds was, for the most part, a non-factor on Thursday.
The NCAA Championships, which feature 24 teams and 126 golfers, will conclude with the fourth round on Friday.
Complete results and tee times can be found at www.purduesports.com or www.golfstat.com.
Purdue Scoring Day One Day Two Day Three TotalT5 Kari Damron 74 76 75 225 (+9)T48 Heather Zielinski 81 76 76 233 (+17)T68 Onnarin Sattayabanphot 81 77 79 237 (+21)T72 Heather Suhr 80 80 78 238 (+22)T86 Beth Hermes 86 81 75 242 (+26)11 TEAM 316 (+28) 309 (+21) 304 (+16) 929 (+65)