Pirate Golf Headed To NCAA East Regional
April 27, 2009 | Women's Golf
April 27, 2009
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - The East Carolina women's golf team is one of 21 teams headed to the East Regional the NCAA Division I Women's Golf Committee announced Monday afternoon.
The Lady Pirates, who earned their second straight at-large bid, were chosen as the No. 12 seed in the East Regional, which will be held at the Bostick Golf Course in Gainesville, Fla. and hosted by the University of Florida May 7-9.
The East Regional is one of three regional tournaments which will be held to determine the championships field. Regional tournaments are considered preliminary rounds of NCAA championships competition, and all national championships policies will apply.
A total of 324 participants have been selected for the regional competition. Of these players, 126 will advance to the championships finals May 19-22 at the Caves Valley Golf Club in Owings Mills, Md. hosted by Georgetown University. Eight teams and two individuals will advance from each region.
The Lady Pirates (96-35-2), in just its ninth year of existence, will make their fifth team appearance in the NCAA Championships. During the 2002-03 season, ECU garnered a No. 12 seed in the East Regional in Winston-Salem, N.C. finishing tied for 14th. The Pirates were a 15 seed during the 2004-05 campaign in Gainesville, Fla. finishing in 17th and last year they were tabbed No. 13 in the East Regional in Athens, Ga. where they finished 12th.
Former Pirate Adrienne Millican participated in the NCAA Championships as an individual in 2004 placing in a tie for 34th out of 126 golfers, while Lene Krog represented the Pirates at the championships as an individual in 2007 before withdrawing due to an injury after 36 holes.
After claiming its first Conference USA Championship in the spring of 2006, the Pirates earned an automatic bid to the East Regional heading to Greensboro, N.C. as the No. 20 seed and finished tied for 19th.
The selection to the 2008-09 Regional marks the first time ECU has received back-to-back at-large bids and it's the seventh straight season where the Pirates will be represented in the NCAA Regionals. ECU enters post-season play with a No. 36 ranking by Golfstat, marking the second straight year they have cracked the top-40 in the final regular season poll (No. 37 in 2008).
"This is a nice reward for program and the girls involved," said Head Coach Kevin Williams. "We are real excited about playing in Florida in a very competitive regional and I think our girls are up for the challenge and are looking to move forward to the NCAA Championships."
ECU is set to tee off Thursday, May 7 in the morning and will be teamed up with Conference USA Champion Tulane and host school University of Florida.
Back in January, the NCAA announced that ECU would host the 2010 NCAA Women's Golf East Regional to be played at the par-72, 6,348-yard Ironwood Country Club in Greenville, N.C.
East Regional
The East regional will be played May 7-9 at the Mark Bostick Golf Course, Gainesville, Florida, hosted by the University of Florida. Conference automatic qualifiers are indicated in parenthesis next to the institution.
Teams:
1. Virginia
2. Auburn (Southeastern Conference)
3. Alabama
4. North Carolina
5. Duke
6. Denver (Sun Belt Conference)
7. Tennessee
8. Vanderbilt
9. Georgia
10. Tulane (Conference USA)
11. Florida
12. East Carolina
13. Mississippi
14. South Carolina
15. Furman (Southern Conference)
16. Charleston
17. Florida State
18. Central Florida
19. Coastal Carolina (Big South Conference)
20. Stetson (Atlantic Sun Conference)
21. Jackson State (Southwestern Athletic Conference)
Individuals:
1. Susannah Aboff, Princeton
2. Julia Potter, Missouri
3. Jessica Hollandsworth, Maryland
