Women's Golf preview: NCAA West Regional Championship
May 5, 2009 No. 17 Seed Texas at NCAA West Regional Championship
Texas Lineup Avg. (Rounds) • VANDERMADE EARNS ALL-BIG 12 WOMEN’S GOLF HONORS ... Texas freshman Nicole Vandermade was recently named to the 2009 All-Big 12 Women’s Golf Team, becoming the 13th player in Texas history to earn the honor. Throughout the 2008-09 season, Vandermade posted a team-best scoring average of 75.07 and recorded UT’s best individual finish in four events. She also landed All-Tournament Team honors after tying for 10th place at the Big 12 Women’s Golf Championship. • LAST TIME OUT ... Freshman Nicole Vandermade (80-77-75) fired a 2-over-par 75 in the final round of the Big 12 Championship to lead The University of Texas with a tie for 10th place at 13-over 232 and to also earn All-Tournament Team honors for her effort. As a team, the Longhorns (321-308-317=946, +70) finished the league championship in sixth place. • ABOUT THE COURSE ... The ASU Karsten Golf Course is a classic Pete Dye, links-style course set in the shadows of ASU’s Sun Devil Stadium. Awarded 4 1/2 stars by the prestigious Golf Digest Rating Panel, this well maintained and challenging design features Dye’s signature mounding and creative bunkering – making proper club selection essential for low scoring. Top PGA and LPGA TOUR professionals such as Phil Mickelson, Billy Mayfair and Grace Park have all sharpened their skills at this premier facility. • 2008 NCAA CENTRAL REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP FLASHBACK ... The University of Texas women’s golf team advanced to the NCAA Championships for the first time since 2004 as the Longhorns placed seventh at the NCAA Central Regionals, carding a three-round score of 35-over-par 899. The 21-team regional was contested at the UT Golf Club in Austin. Texas was seeded 10th at the Central Regionals. • FOUR RETURN TO NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP ... Seniors Caney Hines (‘06, ‘08) and Kelley Louth (‘06, ‘08) will be making their third appearances in NCAA Regional Championship action, while senior Kristin Walla (‘08) and junior Shannon Fish (‘08) are returning for the second-consecutive year. • LEADING THE LONGHORNS ... Freshman Nicole Vandermade has paced the Longhorns this season with a team-best scoring average of 75.07. Although Vandermade holds the low average for UT, junior Shannon Fish accounted for the squad’s lowest round in relation to par and raw score with a 4-under 68 at the Las Vegas Collegiate Showdown. • SOLID SENIOR ... Senior Kelley Louth is making the most of her final rounds as a Longhorn. Louth was Texas’ top finisher in three-straight tournament appearances with a tie for 10th place at the UCF Challenge (March 8-10), tie for 29th at the Betsy Rawls Longhorn Invitational (March 20-22) and a career-best tie for second at the Indiana Invitational (April 6-7). Her fiery finale to her college career began on March 1 at The University of Texas Golf Club when she tied fellow senior Caney Hines for medalist honors in Texas’ match against Texas State. • VANDERMADE OFF THE TEE ... Freshman Nicole Vandermade has taken advantage of her distance off the tee, especially on par-5 holes. She ranks 27th nationally with a par-5 scoring average of 4.87. Additionally, she is tied for 45th with 59 birdies through 25 rounds of golf, which is an average of 2.4 birdies per round. • FISH FINDING THE FAIRWAY ... Consistency may very well be the key to junior Shannon Fish’s golf game. Fish has hit 89.1 percent of her fairways this season for a mark that ties her for 11th nationally. • SUCCESS IN THE CLASSROOM ... Five University of Texas women’s golf student-athletes earned a spot on the 2009 Academic All-Big 12 Women’s Golf Team. Seniors Kelley Louth, Meredith McMahan and Kristin Walla were named to the First Team, while senior Caney Hines and junior Shannon Fish were selected to the Second Team. Walla’s nomination marks her third career selection to the Academic All-Big 12 First Team, while Louth and Hines were first-team honorees in 2008. • TEXAS ON THE ASU KARSTEN GOLF COURSE ... To say that the Texas Longhorns have had success on the ASU Karsten Golf Course would be an understatement. Prior to UT firing a school-record single-round raw score of 281 in the final round of last fall’s UNLV Rebel Classic, it’s previous school record was 285 at the 2003 PING/ASU Invitational where Texas finished in second place. Additionally, senior Caney Hines fired a career-low 68 in the first round of the same tournament in 2006. • AND RICHARDS’ SUCCESS IN TEMPE ... On top of Texas’ successes at the ASU Karsten Golf Course, second-year head coach Martha Richards also boasts her own achievement in Tempe. A rare two-sport athlete at Stanford (basketball and golf), Richards was the individual medalist at the 1993 PING/ASU Invitational. Teams (automatic conference bids):
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