May 12, 2007
BATON ROUGE, La. - The Purdue women's golf team has qualified for the 2007 NCAA Championships in Daytona Beach, Fla. The Boilermakers finished tied for fifth with North Carolina in NCAA East Regional by firing a three-round total of 862 (-2), including a 287 in the final round on Saturday. Top-seeded Duke came back to win with a team total of 844. The Blue Devils finished two strokes ahead of second-place UCLA and 14 strokes in front of third-place Wake Forest. Auburn was fourth with a three-day total of 861.
Purdue sophomore Stephanie Oukeo continued her strong play, finishing as the low golfer for the Boilermakers with a three-round total of 214 (-2). She shot a 73 today to finish tied for 13th. Oukeo's performance in the east regional set personal bests for a 54-hole score, tournament finish and low round. Coming into the tournament Oukeo had not recorded any rounds even or under par but carded a 70 followed by a 71 in the first two rounds of the east regional.
Big Ten Player of the Year, Maria Hernandez recorded the low round for the Boilermakers on Saturday. Hernandez, ranked No. 9 by Golfweek.com, carded a two-under par 70 on Saturday, finishing the tournament tied for 18th with a three-round total of 215 (-1). Sophomore Christel Boeljon also finished tied for 18th after firing an even-par 72 in the final round. Boeljon shot the lowest round of the tournament for the Boilermakers on Thursday with a 69 and finished with a tournament total of 215 (-1).
Big Ten Freshman of the Year, Stefanie Endstrasser carded an even-par 72 today, her best round of the tournament. She tied for 44th with a three-day total of 219 (+3). Senior Myrte Eikenaar tied for 48th with a four-over par 220. Eikenaar shot a one-over par 73 today that included one birdie and one double-bogey.
UCLA freshman Sydnee Michaels won medalist honors, holding onto her lead through all three rounds. Michaels carded a three-round total of 203 (-13) and finished three strokes ahead of Duke's Amanda Blumenherst and UCLA's Tiffany Joh who tied for second place. Blumenherst set a course record by firing a 63 in the final round on Saturday. The east regional was held at the The University Club, a par-72, 6,403-yard layout and hosted by Louisiana State.
The top eight schools and the top two individuals not a member of those eight teams advance to the NCAA Women's Golf National Championships on May 22 to 25. Purdue has advanced to the last seven-straight championships and finished ninth last year.