Tulane Women's Golf Opens Play in NCAA Championships

Alison Walshe

They have been waiting for this moment for the past four years, wiping away tears of agony and sweat of a day's work along the way. But on Tuesday, the wait will be more than worth it as the Tulane University women's golf team opens play in the 2005 NCAA Division I Championship at the par-71, 6,321-yard Sunriver Resort in Sunriver, Ore.

"It's been our goal since day one to get to the NCAA Championship," head coach 2005 Conference UA Coach of the Year Sue Bower said. "And while we couldn't be more excited about being here, the team understands that this is more than just a reward for a well-played season. They understand that they've got a chance to compete for a national title, and I believe they will be more than up to the challenge over the next four days."

Tulane qualifying for the 2005 NCAA Championship is the latest in a long list of accomplishments for the Green Wave as the team successfully defended their Conference USA crown by overcoming a nine-stroke deficit heading into the final round of the championship and emerged with a five-stroke win over runner-up TCU.

A week later, the Green Wave punched their ticket to nationals by posting a team 885 (293-292-300) to finish six in the NCAA East Regional at The University of Florida Golf Course in Gainesville, Fla.

Tulane enters the 2005 NCAA Championship ranked ninth in the NCAA by Golfstat.com and No. 12 by GolfWeek magazine. Tulane is 116-30-4 on the year, including a 60-30-4 record agains the Top 50 and a 22-26-4 mark vs. the Top 25.

As a team, the Green Wave are averaging 299.6 strokes per round, and are led by sophomore Alison Walshe with a 73.45 mark. Junior Liliana Alvarez is next with a 74.96 stroke average, followed by senior Lindsay Hulwick (75.86), sophomore Mary Ellen Jacobs (76.31) and senior Alexis Wooster (77.79).

One of the strengths of the Tulane club has been its ability to drive the ball, and as a result, the Green Wave rank 10th in the nation in par-five scoring with a 5.05 average. The short game has been impressive also, as Walshe ranks fourth in the nation in total short game (.620) and eighth in putts per green (1.844).

"We have five kids in the lineup that are capable of shooting under par," Bower said. "We've shown the ability to come from behind and win, and we've been able to sustain leads when we've had the opportunity. It will take a tremendous week to win it all, but I feel that a Top 10 finish is definitely within the realm of possibility."

Tulane is joined in the NCAA Championship by fellow East Regional participants Ohio State, Duke, Furman, Pepperdine, Virginia, Florida and Washington, Central Regional participants Auburn, Texas A&M, Missouri, Arizona State, Tulsa, Purdue, Michigan State and Arkansas, and West Regional qualifiers UCLA, Tennessee, California, Southern Cal, Oklahoma, UC Irvine, Brigham Young and Stanford.

In addition, individual participants Kristin Svicarovich of Vanderbilt, Jenna Pearson of South Carolina, Lisa Ferrero of Texas, Brooke Shelton of LSU, Kay Hoey of Long Beach State and Johnna Nealy of Oregon will compete for the national championship.

Future C-USA member Tulsa also earned a spot in the 24-team field by placing fifth at the Central Regional, hosted by Texas Tech.

The two dozen teams and six individuals will play 18 holes each day from Tuesday through Friday, and the winners in both the team and individual categories will be crowned national champions.

Golf fans can follow all the action live on the internet at www.golfstat.com.