May 10, 2008

Complete Results

LINCOLN, Calif. -- UC Davis beat Stanford and Ohio State in a three-team playoff for eighth place at the NCAA Division I Women's Golf West Regional at Lincoln Hills on Saturday evening, claiming the tournament's final qualifying spot to the NCAA Championship next week at the University of New Mexico.

UC Davis, the only unranked team advancing to the 24-team national finals, is playing just its third year of varsity golf and is in its first year of Division I status.

The Aggies, Cardinal and Buckeyes ended the 54-hole tournament at the Orchard Course at Lincoln Hills Golf Club all tied at 28-over par 892. The teams then played a sudden-death playoff on the course's first five holes. Each team had a player at each hole and the team with the lowest aggregate team score was declared the winner.

UC Davis played its five holes one shot under par while Ohio State and Stanford each posted 1-over totals.

The Aggies were in a close battle near eighth place most of the day, posting a team score of 8-over 296 for the second consecutive round. Michigan State had a slim lead for the final qualifying spot but could not hold it, enabling the three playoff teams - which had already finished their rounds - to move up a spot.

UC Davis' 296 was highlighted by a 1-under 71 by senior Sydney Roughton who tied for 13th in the 108-player field with a 2-over total of 218. Alice Kim - one of three freshman in the Aggies' lineup - had a 72 to finish at 6-over 222 while Bryana Gregory carded a 75 and tied for 69th at 13-over 229.

Freshman Chelsea Stelzmiller also tied for 69th after a 78 while freshman Katie Sisler had a 79, finishing the regional at 15-over 231.

Second-ranked Southern California claimed the regional championship with a wire-to-wire 15-stroke win over No. 4 Arizona State, finishing at 9-under 855. The Sun Devils, who were at 6-over 870, finished nine shots ahead of No. 47 UNLV. Arizona, ranked No. 12, took fourth while No. 14 Oklahoma State and No. 7 Arkansas tied for fifth. No. 28 Tulsa finished seventh.

UC Davis opened the three-day tournament with a team score of 300 and was tied for 15th before battling back to move within striking distance after Friday's round, just one shot out of eighth place. Three birdies by Gregory in her first five holes helped the Aggies get off to a strong start on Saturday while Kim had two in her first three.

Roughton, who made the turn 1-under, played the back nine even to card her best round of the tournament.

UC Davis finished ahead of seven ranked teams in the regional tournament.

The Aggies' spot in the national finals also extends the career of legendary coach Kathy DeYoung who announced her retirement from UC Davis earlier this year. DeYoung, who also coached volleyball and also won nearly 800 softball games and a Division II Championship, retired as coach from the latter sport in 2004 in order to help start the women's golf program.

Angela King of Stanford and Erica Moston of San Jose State were individual qualifiers for the national finals out of the NCAA West Regional. UCLA posted a 10-shot win to claim the NCAA Central Regional while Florida was a one-shot winner at the NCAA East Regional.

The NCAA Championship tournament will be played May 20-23 at the University of New Mexico Championship Golf Course and consists of 72 holes, 18 each day. It is the second time that UNM has hosted the women's championship, the last time coming in 1987. It has hosted three men's finals.

NCAA WEST REGIONAL
Lincoln Hills Golf Club (Lincoln Hills GC)
Par 72, 6,338 yards
Final

TEAMS
(top eight qualify for NCAA Championships)
1. Southern California, 283-288-284-855
2. Arizona State, 296-285-289-870
3. UNLV, 288-290-301-879
4. Arizona, 299-289-292-880
5. Oklahoma State, 293-293-296-882
6. Arkansas, 291-297-24-882
7. Tulsa, 287-308-289-884
T8. UC DAVIS, 300-296-296-892
(UCD advances after sudden-death playoff)

T8. Stanford, 295-298-299-892
T8. Ohio State, 299-298-295-892
11. Michigan State, 295-304-294-893
12. California, 295-301-301-897
13. Oregon, 303-297-301-901
14. UC Irvine, 302-301-301-904
15. Oklahoma, 299-303-303-905
16. San Jose State, 300-302-304-906
17. Brigham Young, 295-303-309-907
18. Fresno State, 306-306-296-908
19. North Carolina, 297-311-306-914
20. Portland State, 308-308-312-928
21. Oral Roberts, 310-312-309-931

INDIVIDUALS
1. Therese Koelbaek, UNLV, 69-68-73-210

UC DAVIS
T13. Sydney Roughton, 73-74-71-218
T30. Alice Kim, 77-73-72-222
T69. Bryana Gregory, 79-75-75-229
T69. Chelsea Stelzmiller, 72-79-78-229
T78. Katie Sisler, 78-74-79-231