Golf Headed To Fourth-Straight NCAA Regional
April 25, 2011 | Women's Golf
April 25, 2011
Complete NCAA Regional Participants l Central Regional Championship Central
GREENVILLE, N.C. - The East Carolina women's golf team is one of 24 teams headed to the Central Regional the NCAA Division I Women's Golf Committee announced Monday evening.
The Lady Pirates, who earned their fourth straight at-large bid, were chosen as the No. 19 seed in the Central Regional, which will be held at the Warren Golf Course in Notre Dame, Ind. May 5-7.
The Central 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 378 participants have been selected for the regional competition. Of these players, 126 will advance to the championships finals May 18-21 at the Traditions Club in Bryan Texas and will be hosted by Texas A&M University, College Station. Eight teams and two individuals will advance from each region.
The Lady Pirates (92-39-2), in its 11th year of existence, will make their seventh 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.
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 following year the Pirates returned as a team with a No. 13 ranking in the East Regional where they finished 12th of 24 teams in Athens, Ga.
In 2009, ECU narrowly missed making its first ever NCAA Championship appearance, falling two strokes out of eighth place in Gainesville, Fla. posting a three-day score of 892 (283-313-296) where the Pirates led after the first day of competition.
Last year the Pirates garnered a 20th seed in the East Regional, which was played in their own back yard at the Ironwood Country Club. ECU finished 12th out of 24 teams shooting a tournament score of 895 (293-305-297).
The selection to the 2010-11 Regional marks the first time ECU has received four consecutive at-large bids and it's the ninth-straight season where the Pirates will be represented in the NCAA Regionals.
"I'm very excited for this team," said Head Coach Kevin William. "This was our goal all season and for this senior class to become the first in school history to participate in four-straight NCAA Regionals is amazing. It`s a great reward for our team that worked so hard all year and we're anxious to go up north and compete for our first NCAA Championship."
ECU is set to tee off Thursday, May 5 and will be paired up with Michigan and Illinois. Tee times have not yet been announced.
Central Regional
The Central regional will be played May 5-7 at Warren Golf Course, Notre Dame, Ind. hosted by Notre Dame. Conference automatic qualifiers are indicated in parenthesis next to the institution.
Teams
1. UCLA
2. Duke
3. LSU
4. Arkansas
5. Wake Forest
6. Texas (Big 12)
7. Tulane
8. Stanford
9. Notre Dame (Big East)
10. Ohio State
11. Kent State (Mid-America)
12. Chattanooga (Southern)
13. Northwestern
14. Minnesota
15. UNLV
16. Oklahoma State
17. North Texas
18. Wisconsin
19. East Carolina
20. Michigan
21. Illinois
22. Morehead State (Ohio Valley)
23. Illinois State (Missouri Valley)
24. Butler (Horizon)
Individuals
1. Harin Lee, St. John's (N.Y)
2. Lindsay Gahm, Indiana
3. Bonnie Hu, Harvard
4. Nina Muehl, E. Tennessee State
5. Brittany Kelly, Ball State
6. Britney Hamilton, Western Michigan
