Women of Troy Swing Towards NCAA West Regionals
May 09, 2000 | Women's Golf
May 9, 2000
NCAA WEST REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
The No. 3 USC women's golf team heads to Tempe, Ariz., to compete in the 2000 NCAA West Regionals. The tournament will take place Thursday-Saturday (May 11-13) at the par 72, 6,131-yard Karsten Golf Course on the campus of Arizona State. Last year, USC won the NCAA West Regional held at Pine Forest Country Club in Houston, Tex., then went on to finish seventh at the NCAA Women's Golf Championships in Tulsa, Okla. The Women of Troy are coached by Andrea Gaston and are led by freshman Candie Kung, who is currently ranked third in the MasterCard rankings.
SCHEDULE & FORMAT
Eighteen holes will be played Thursday through Saturday (May 11-13) beginning at 7:30 a.m. from tees No. 1 and No. 10. The final group tees off at 1:20 p.m. each day. First and second round pairings are predetermined based on seeding, while final round pairings will be based on team results after two rounds. The top four scores from each five-person team will count towards the team score. Eleven teams and three individuals will qualify for the NCAA Championships from each of the two regionals, with ASU hosting the West Regional and Ohio State hosting the East Regional. An additional two team berths will be allocated to the region with the most teams ranked in the top 24. The NCAA Championships will be held at the Crosswater Golf Course in Sunriver, Ore., May 24-27 and are being hosted by Oregon State University.
THE FIELD
Twenty-four teams and six individuals from the West and Far West districts have qualified for the 2000 NCAA West Regional. All 24 teams are ranked in the top 50 in the latest MasterCard Collegiate Golf Rankings. The field includes seven of the top 10 teams in the nation in No. 1 Arizona, No. 3 USC, No. 4 Arizona State, No. 6 Pepperdine, No. 7 Stanford, No. 9 Oklahoma State and No. 10 New Mexico State. The rest of the field is comprise of No. 11 San Jose State, No. 14 UCLA, No. 15 Texas, No. 16 New Mexico, No. 17 Tulsa, No. 22 Oklahoma, No. 23 TCU, No. 25 California, No. 26 Oregon, No. 27 Nebraska, No. 31 Missouri, No. 33 Washington, No. 34 Baylor, No. 35 Texas Tech, No. 45 Oregon State, No. 48 Brigham Young and No. 49 Washington State. The field of individuals is just as distinguished, featuring a total of 59 ranked players, including top-ranked Jenna Daniels of Arizona, No. 2 Miriam Nagl of ASU and No. 3 Candie Kung of USC.
CANDIE KUNG
Freshman sensation Candie Kung of Monterey Park (Calif.) has led the way for the Women of Troy in 1999-2000. The No. 3-ranked Kung heads to the West Regional fresh off a first-place finish at the Pac-10 Championships on April 24-26. It was the first Pac-10 individual title for a Trojan (and second overall) since Jennifer Biehn won in 1994. Kung's 72.5 stroke average is the lowest in Women of Troy history and she has six top five finishes this season. Her score of 214 at the Oregon State Preview (which included two rounds of 69) was the lowest 54-hole debut in Women of Troy history and the fifth lowest overall. The top-ranked junior amateur girl in the world and the 1999 AJGA Player of the Year, Kung has a chance to duplicate the success of former Trojan Jennifer Rosales, who won the NCAA individual title as a freshman in 1998. For her efforts this season, Kung was named All Pac-10 first-team, the 10th Trojan to be so honored.
SO FAR THIS SEASON
The USC women's golf team has participated in 10 tournaments this season and did well in each, powering the Women of Troy to an impressive No. 3 national ranking. USC opened the campaign with a second-place tie at the Oregon State Preview and did the same at the Dick Mcguire Classic before winning the team title at the Edean Ihlanfeldt Invitational. The Women of Troy wrapped up the fall season with a fourth place showing at the Golf World/Palmetto Dunes Invitational. USC opened the 2000 spring season with a second-place showing at the TRW Regional Challenge and then finished tied for sixth at the Arizona Invitational, third at the Dr. Thompson Rainbow Tournament and fourth at the ASU/Ping Invitational before sharing the team title at the Peg Barnard Classic with Washington. In their last team tournament, the Women of Troy came in fifth at the Pac-10 Championships. In addition to Candie Kung's outstanding performances, fellow freshman Mikaela Parmlid also had an impressive season, recording two top five finishes on her way to earning a No. 38 national ranking. Parmlid fell just short of the Pac-10 individual title after she was disqualified due to an error on her scorecard (she had actually defeated teammate Kung in a playoff for the apparent win). USC also received solid pay from junior Nicole Dalkas (No. 36) and Leila Chartrand (39th).
WEST REGIONAL CONTACT & RESULTS
Arizona State media relations assistant Rhonda Lundin is the media contact for the 2000 NCAA West Regional Championships. All inquiries should be directed to Lundin at (480) 965-9780. At the conclusion of each round, results will be posted on InfoConnection. To access Info Connection, call 1-800-868-2007 from the handset of your fax machine. The Pac-10 Code is 72210 (PAC10) and the cell number is 1691. The results will also be available via the internet at http://www.TheSunDevils.com. Results should be available by 6:30 p.m.
UP NEXT
The NCAA Championships will be hosted by Oregon State at the Sunriver Golf Club on May 24-27.
