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 Freshman Desiree Karlsson led Western with the school's first-ever, below-par round at an NCAA event, shooting two-under, 70, on Saturday. |
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May 12, 2007
Baton Rouge, La. - The Western Carolina women's golf team saved its best for last, shooting a program post-season low round of 297 on Saturday to turn in a team card of 906 for the tournament to finish 19th overall at the NCAA East Regional held at the University Club. Freshman Desiree Karlsson shot a team-low, two-under 70 over the final 18 holes to finish tied for 23rd lead the Catamounts.
In just its second NCAA post-season appearance all-time, Western surpassed its previous round performance of 913, which included a low 18-hole round of 300. Also, Karlsson's two-under 70 is the lowest round carded by a Catamount all-time in an NCAA Championship event.
Top-ranked Duke rallied from third after two rounds to claim the team championship at the regional, edging out UCLA, which held at least a share of the lead over 36 holes, by two strokes, 844-to-846. Wake Forest placed third with a 54-hole score of 858, followed by Auburn (861) in fourth, Purdue and North Carolina tied for fifth (862), Alabama in seventh (868) and Louisville (870) rounding out the eight teams to advance to the NCAA National Championship.
Fellow Southern Conference members, Furman and the College of Charleston, finished tied for 11th and 16th, respectively.
Individually, UCLA's Sydnee Michaels carded a 13-under, 203, to claim the individual medalist honors three strokes ahead of teammate Tiffany Joh and Duke's Amanda Blumenherst at 206.
With two birdies and a bogey on both the front and back nine, Karlsson turned in WCU's first-ever below-par round with 70 on Saturday afternoon. Both front nine birdies came on par 4 holes, while the pair on the back came on par 3's.
Senior Bianca Melone (right) concluded her WCU career on Saturday at the NCAA East Regional. |
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Junior Malin Fryk was WCU's second-best finisher, placing tied for 70th after shooting a two-over 74 on the final round. The Trollhattan, Sweden, native rallied from six-over after carding bogey on six of her first 11 holes by posting four-straight birdies on hole 13 through 16. Freshman Elin Mickelsson finished 92nd equaling her best round of 76 on the final 18 holes, with senior Bianca Melone shooting her best round of 77 to place tied for 95th. Rounding out WCU's performances was junior Kandy Carland who finished tied for 97th.
Senior Bianca Melone concludes her four-year playing career at Western Carolina following Saturday's final round at the NCAA East Regional. The Orlando, Fla., native finished ranked sixth all-time on the WCU career scoring chart with a 78.36 stroke average in 107 career rounds. She recorded nine, top 10 finishes during her collegiate career and garnered her first-ever All-Southern Conference accolades earlier this season at the conference championship. Also during her career, Melone was named to the National Golf Coaches Association (NGCA) Division I All-American Scholar team and last summer, she qualified for the United States Women's Amateur Public Links Championship (USWAPL), which was held at the Walking Stick Golf Course in Pueblo, Colo.
Western returns four of its top five golfers from this season next year including Fryk, who currently leads the school's all-time career scoring chart and Karlsson, who was named SoCon Freshman of the Year this season.
NCAA Women's Golf East Regional - Final Round University Club - Baton Rouge, La.1 Duke 291 281 272 844 -20 2 UCLA 281 283 282 846 -18 3 Wake Forest 284 283 282 858 -6 4 Auburn 293 282 286 861 -3 T5 Purdue 285 290 287 862 -2 T5 North Carolina 290 292 280 862 -2 7 Alabama 287 289 292 868 +4 8 Louisville 286 289 295 870 +6 ------------------------------------------------ T9 South Carolina 290 289 295 874 +10 T9 Virginia 295 288 291 874 +10 T11 Florida State 292 298 285 875 +11 T11 Furman 284 290 301 875 +11 13 Texas A&M 291 288 299 878 +14 14 LSU 287 295 299 881 +17 15 Birmingham-Sou. 297 295 298 890 +26 16 C. of Charleston 292 303 296 891 +27 17 South Florida 306 294 294 894 +30 18 N.C. State 302 303 294 899 +35 19 WESTERN CAROLINA 301 308 297 906 +42 20 Jacksonville St. 324 301 311 936 +72 21 Jackson State 329 325 326 980 +116
19 Western Carolina 301 308 297 906 +42 T23 Desiree Karlsson 72 74 70 216 E T70 Malin Fryk 75 77 74 226 +10 92 Elin Mickelsson 76 79 76 231 +15 T95 Bianca Melone 78 78 77 233 +17 T97 Kandy Carland 78 79 78 235 +19
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