Women's Golfers Gain Wealth Of Experience At NCAA Regional
5/12/2013 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
CENTRAL REGIONAL TOURNAMENT CENTRAL
NORMAN, Okla. - Gonzaga University's women's golf team didn't perform as well as they had hoped in their inaugural voyage into the NCAA Central Regional at Jimmie Austin OU Golf Club, but the 46th-ranked Zags did gain immeasurable experience in hopes of making this an annual rite of spring for the program.
For the record the Zags finished 19th in the 24-team field, earning an at-large berth and the 16th seed into their first taste of post-season competition. The squad finished no worse than third in nine of 10 regular-season tournaments this year with four victories and claimed second in the West Coast Conference Championship for the second time in three years.
Sophomore Alice Kim finished strong for the Bulldogs with an even-par 72 final round for a 54-hole score of 226 and a tie for 62nd as the top Bulldog finisher. Sophomore Han Wu (233) and senior Genavive 'Genna' Dodge (236) each shot a final-round 78, and freshman Raychelle Santos (229) and senior Victoria Fallgren (232) both finished with 79s.
"Alice had a great day. She holed her second shot on the 11th hole for an eagle," Gonzaga head coach Brad Rickel said of Kim's eagle two on the 368-yard, par 4.
Rickel said it was a trying day on the course.
"The team played hard all day. We had in mind we wanted to move up and leave with a better taste in our mouth. It was ridiculously hard, there was a howling wind in the opposite direction, the greens were firm and fast and then the thunderclouds moved in. We had to evacuate the course and wait for two hours. It was a trying day, but I'm proud of how they stuck with it and passed a good team like Campbell."
The lightning delay lasted 1:57 with nearly a third of the teams still on the course and some golfers still having as many as six holes to play.
The final results aside, Rickel said the experience was something special for this team.
"For the seniors, I'm glad they got to experience it and be rewarded for their hard work," Rickel said. "The freshmen and sophomores got a taste of it and want more. They feel they left something on the table. They know we have to prepare better, and they know they can't let the fact we have to finish schoolwork and finals derail us from also playing better golf, too."
With Santos, Wu, Kim, junior Tai Jade 'TJ' Kliebphipat and freshman Angela De Villa returning next season, the future looks bright. Rickel has signed incoming freshman Ciera Min out of Waiakea High in Hilo, Hawai'i.
"I think it's obviously bright. They found out what it's like to win and how much they like it," Rickel said of the years ahead. "Ciera will come in and help us immediately. We lose some important golfers with graduation, but I think Ciera will do her best to fill that hole, and we need TJ and Angela to find their groove again."
Third-ranked and No. 1 Central Regional seed Duke University captured the crown with a 54-hole score of 851, beating host University of Oklahoma by six strokes. The other six spots in the NCAA Championship were claimed by Mississippi State University (872), 9th-ranked University of Florida (877), 15th-ranked Arizona State University (878), 16th-ranked UC Davis (880), University of Wisconsin (883) and 27th-ranked Michigan State University (884).
Mississippi State's Ally McDonald claimed medalist honors with a 54-hole score of 206 after rounds of 69-69-68 over the 6,298-yard, par 72 layout for a 5-stroke victory over a trio of golfers. Ying Luo of the University of Washington and Olafia Kristindottir of Wake Forest University earned the two individual at-large spots as the highest finishers from the non-qualifying teams as they finished tied for eighth at 215.
