 |
 Sophomores Matt Cook and Kandy Carland today were named the SoCon's Golfers of the Week. |
 |
April 6, 2006
Cullowhee, N.C. - For the first-time in school history, Western Carolina men's and women's golf swept the Southern Conference's weekly golf awards as sophomores Matt Cook and Kandy Carland were named conference golfers of the week today by the league office. The two Western North Carolina products were the top WCU and SoCon finishers at their respective events last week, with Carland recording her first-ever collegiate victory.
Cook, who earned the honor for the second-straight week giving WCU three-consecutive weekly selections, becomes just the second WCU men's golfer all-time to earn the SoCon weekly honor twice, joining junior Tripp Morrow who won the honor last season and again this year on March 22. Carland captured the Catamounts first women's golf weekly honor of the season. She joins senior teammates Ashley Hovda and Brandy Andersen, who were each named SoCon Women's Golfer of the Month in the fall, as overall SoCon award winners this season. Hovda earned the monthly honor in both September and October, in addition to the TIAA-CREF SoCon Student-Athlete of the Week on October 9, while Andersen won the monthly award in November.
Cook (Murphy, N.C.) turned in an even par 72 and a three-round score of 217 to finish one stroke out of first place at the Wofford Invitational. The current Southern Conference leader in scoring average, Cook registered his sixth, top five of the season, including all four events this spring, and was the top finisher among the SoCon competitors. The Murphy native led the 60-person field with 13 birdies over 54 holes, while his six-under on the par 5's was second-best in the field.
Cook, who now has 10 top five finishes in 15 career events, continues to hold Western Carolina's best all-time single-season and career scoring average. His 71.65 this year is a full stroke lower than his previous low season average, 72.67, which ranked as the best-ever at WCU last year. Just a sophomore, Cook's career average is 72.02, three strokes lower than Morrow in second.
Finishing the regulation 36-holes tied for first with identical scores of 152, Carland (Hendersonville, N.C.) defeated Katie Dick of Methodist College on the first hole of a sudden death playoff to claim individual medalist honors at the High Point Spring Invitational last week. Carland shot par on the playoff hole, tapping in from about 10 inches out for the victory as Dick bogeyed the hole. The Hendersonville, N.C., native shot her career-best two-round score using rounds of 77 and 75, battling through the weather-shortened opening day and the windblown conclusion of the first round and the final round of play last Tuesday. Carland led the tournament in par 4 scoring with an average score of 4.15, and also led in total number of pars, tallying 21. The win gives her three-straight top 20 finishes this spring.
Also, with Carland's victory, Western's women have won four individual medalist honors this season, three coming in the fall portion of the schedule. She joins Hovda, who won twice in the fall, and classmate Malin Fryk as individual champions this season. All told, WCU's roster now boasts four players who have won individual championships, including the aforementioned and Andersen, who was the SoCon Champion in 2003 as a freshman. The Catamounts have recorded a school-record nine, top five finishes this season in 10 events, tying a school record with three team titles. At the same time, Western has posted a 22-1 record versus Southern Conference opponents faced at the 10 seasonal tournaments.
The Catamount men return to action on Sunday, April 16 through Tuesday, April 18 at the annual Southern Conference Men's Golf Championship played this season at Stono Ferry in Hollywood, S.C. Western's women are off until their SoCon Championship, set for April 21-23 at the Mill Creek Golf and Country Club in Mebane, N.C.
|
|
 |
