April 9, 2000
TEMPE, Ariz. - The fourth-ranked Arizona State women's golf team finished second to the top-ranked University of Arizona by three strokes Sunday at the PING/ASU Invitational held April 7-9 at ASU's Karsten Golf Course.
The Sun Devils and the Wildcats were knotted at 585 heading into Sunday's final round, but Arizona shot a one-under par 287 on the final day to best Arizona State by just three strokes. The teams were tied shooting even par after the first nine holes, but Arizona finished strong to garner the win, their fifth straight tournament victory.
Arizona was led by tournament medalist Jenna Daniels, the top-ranked golfer in the nation, who shot a four-under 68 in the final round. Daniels finished with a nine-under 207 in the tournament including a pair of 68s on Friday and Sunday.
Arizona State freshman Miriam Nagl, who trails Daniels by just five points in the national rankings, took second in the tournament, finishing with a one-under total of 215. Nagl also garnered the Ann Votik Award which is given to the outstanding freshman perfomer each year at the PING/ASU Invitational. Arizona State's other freshman Blair O'Neal also finished strong with her second 71 of the tournament to finish in a tie for third place at 217 with Tulsa's Stacy Prammanasudh and Texas A&M's Mimi Epps.
"I was very proud of how we played. There were a lot of bright spots for us," Arizona State head coach Linda Vollstedt said. "Blair did great finishing in the top five with another sub-par round and Miriam has had a very strong season so far. Miriam is one of the strongest freshmen I have ever seen and she was beaten by a really strong senior in the final round."
Rounding out the top 10 teams were New Mexico (889), USC (892), San Jose State (896), Stanford (897), UCLA (899), New Mexico State (903), TCU (908) and Texas A&M (909).
"We got to six-under on the back with a bunch of birdies and were leading, but people forget that this is a very young team with only one player coming back from the NCAA Championships," Vollstedt said. "We haven't had the experience and pressure of knowing that we have the lead and have a chance to win down the stretch. It got really exciting, and I don't think we realize how close it really was. We lost by just three strokes to the No. 1 team in the country. It's tough to get this close and lose, but on the other hand, we have a really young team and I am very proud of how we played."
Other Sun Devil scorers included sophomore Caroline Laurens who finished in a tie for 16th (75-75-73=223), junior Molly Cooper who tied for 28th (73-79-73=225) and sophomore Lisa Meredith who finished tied for 32nd (77-74-75=226). Junior Michaela Friberg, who was playing as an individual, tied for 71st (76-82-78=236).
Arizona State returns to action April 24-26, traveling to the Pac-10 Conference Championships being hosted by the University of Oregon at the Eugene Country Club in Eugene, Ore. The Sun Devils then host the NCAA West Regionals at Karsten Golf Course May 11-13 before heading to the NCAA Championships in Sunriver, Ore., May 24-27 where the team will attempt to win its sixth national title in eight years.
Tournament Notes: o The 2000 PING/ASU Invitational featured two holes in one, the first by Oregon State's Rachel Borcherts on the par-3, 134-yard No. 7 on Friday and the second by New Mexico State's Diane Overstreet on the par-3, 132-yard No. 16 in Sunday's final round.
o The Arizona Wildcats punctuated their PING/ASU Invitational victory by jumping in the water hazard lake between Holes No. 18 and No. 9.
o The 2000 PING/ASU Invitational featured 15 teams, all of which are ranked in the top 50 in the latest MasterCard Collegiate Golf Rankings. The field included five of the top 10 teams in the nation in No. 1 Arizona, No. 3 USC, No. 4 Arizona State, No. 7 Stanford and No. 10 New Mexico State. The rest of the field was made up of No. 13 San Jose State, No. 16 Tulsa, No. 20 Oregon, No. 21 UCLA, No. 22 New Mexico, No. 25 TCU, No. 30 Cal, No. 38 Washington, No. 44 Texas A&M and No. 48 Oregon State. Individually the tournament featured 40 ranked players including the nation's top two golfers in top-ranked Jenna Daniels of Arizona and No. 2 Miriam Nagl of Arizona State, 10 of the top 15 golfers in the country and 25 of the top 50.