 |
 Junior Desiree Karlsson (pictured) and freshman Blaire Minter will look to lead the Catamounts in the 2009 SoCon Women's Golf Championship. |
 |
April 18, 2009
Southern Conference Women's Golf Championship - Round 1 Tee Times 
Cullowhee, N.C. - The Western Carolina women's golf team will seek its third Southern Conference title as it travels to Hilton Head, S.C., for this weekend's (April 19-21) conference championship event at the par 72 Moss Creek Resort in Hilton Head, S.C. This will mark WCU's 16th appearance in the SoCon Championship, winning the event in both the 2003 and '07 seasons.
Ten teams will compete for the Southern Conference crown, including defending champion Furman, which claimed an eight-stroke victory over UNC Greensboro in last season's championship at the Links at Stono Ferry in Hollywood, S.C. The winner of the SoCon Championship will earn the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Practice rounds begin on Saturday, with the three-day, 54-hole event teeing off on Sunday on the 6,050-yard North Course, which is a classic, early Tom Fazio-designed course. Moss Creek - North features tight fairways with shots that carry over water and small greens. The entire course plays alongside the Intracoastal Waterway which traditionally allows for an ample amount of wind making it tough and challenging, but an exciting venue.
With six teams entering the weekend ranked in the nation's top 100 - including four inside the top 50, Western is currently the fourth-highest ranked team from the league.
WCU head coach Steve Lott is confident that his challenging fall and spring schedules have prepared his squad for the 54-hole battle they will face this weekend.
"We have played a lot of golf between the fall and this spring, and have had several good tournaments. We have had our ups and downs, dealt with injuries - but overall, we've played a lot of golf and should be ready for the weekend," said Lott. "We are expecting good weather and honestly, we have played extremely well in good conditions this spring."
He added, "We are going into the tourney as the fourth-ranked team in terms of national rankings, but we are also a team that has won two tournaments with two individual medalist honors and have shot four-under on a single-round. If we show up and do what we have practice hard to do, we should make a good showing for ourselves. I feel that the team that stays patient and realizes that there are going to be some pitfalls through the 54-hole round will be the team that comes out on top."
Western won the Lowcountry Intercollegiate it co-hosted with Wofford on the South Course at the same venue back on March 6-8. The Catamounts held off the Terriers to win by six strokes, while also downing league-foes The Citadel and Appalachian State.
"Although we aren't playing the same course, we have a good feeling about Moss Creek after winning there earlier this season," Lott said. "Our vibe once we go through that gate should be good."
The team title was WCU's second of the season after also winning the Great Smokies Intercollegiate it hosted at the Waynesville Country Club in mid-September.
Western Carolina will travel with one upper classmen in junior Desiree Karlsson, who ranks second on the team on overall stroke average this season. The Ljunghusen, Sweden, native - who ranks second on WCU's career scoring chart (76.52) - has a team-leading five, top 10 individual finishes this season including a season-best, fourth-place showing at the Low Country Intercollegiate.
  |
|
Karlsson is a two-time All-SoCon selection who posted a career-best, seventh-place finish in 2007 helping her garner SoCon Freshman of the Year accolades.
Freshman Blaire Minter has a strong shot at joining Karlsson as one of four Catamounts to earn top freshman honors in their rookie campaign. Minter, from Marietta, Ga., leads the team in stroke average at 75.91 which ranks eighth in the conference, just behind classmate Maria Salinas from Chattanooga. Yet, Minter's two individual titles - at the Draper Valley and Low Country Intercollegiate events - give her an attractive advantage.
In addition to Karlsson and Minter, sophomore Josefine Sundh, who holds the team's second-best stroke average over the past five rounds, and freshmen Rachel Nelson and Ashley Shinn will round out the Western Carolina five.
Sundh, who has four top 10 finishes as an individual during the regular season, is making her second appearance in the conference championship tournament after finishing tied for 32nd a year ago as a freshman.
Only one Catamount has ever claimed individual medalist honors at the event as Brandy Andersen won the tournament in 2003 with a four-under, 212, in helping guide WCU to its first-ever SoCon Women's Golf title. Kandy Carland (2007), Bianca Melone (2006) and Ashley Hovda (2005) each posted runner-up finishes at the annual tournament.
The tournament tees off at 8:00 am Sunday morning, and will have live scoring, updated every three holes through www.golfstatresults.com.
|
|
 |
