May 11, 2000
TEMPE, Ariz.- The 17th-ranked University of Tulsa shot a six-over par 294 Thursday to take the lead after the first round of the NCAA Women's Golf West Regional Championships, being held May 11-13 at Arizona State's Karsten Golf Course. Top-ranked Arizona trails Tulsa by two strokes at 296, while No. 7 Stanford (297), No. 15 Texas (298) and No. 27 Nebraska (298) round out the top five. Tournament host and fourth-ranked Arizona State (299) is in sixth place.
Individually, only four players finished under par in the windy, warm conditions which saw temperatures in the low 90s and wind gusts from 20-25 miles per hour. Tulsa players Stacy Prammanasudh, the sixth-ranked golfer in the country, and Maiko Senda, who is unranked in the latest national poll, each fired two-under 70s in the first round to take the early lead. No. 2 Miriam Nagl of Arizona State and No. 10 Angela Stanford of TCU stand in a tie for third individually after carding one-under 71s on the day.
For Arizona State, other scorers included freshman Blair O'Neal who is tied for 22nd after shooting a 75, sophomore Lisa Meredith who stands in a tie for 36th with a 76, sophomore Caroline Laurens who is tied for 53rd after shooting a 77 and junior Molly Cooper who is in a tie for 79th with a 79.
Arizona State head coach Linda Vollstedt said she was pleased with the way her Sun Devil team played.
"I am very pleased with where we are," she said. "For us to break 300 on a day like today is great golf. Everyone is playing in the same conditions. It's not like we are the only ones playing with the wind. Miriam (Nagl) played great golf today in these conditions. That's why she is our No. 1 player. You know you can count on her, even in tough conditions. We just played some good, solid golf today."
The NCAA West Regional resumes Friday morning with tee times from 7:30 a.m. to 1:20 p.m. and will conclude on Saturday. Friday's tee times are predetermined, while Saturday's times will be based on results. Tournament host Arizona State tees off at 11:50 a.m. on Friday morning.
Eleven teams and three individuals will advance to the NCAA Championships from each of the two regionals being held at ASU and Ohio State University, while the region with the most teams ranked in the top 24 will also advance an additional two teams to the national tournament. The NCAA Championships will be held May 24-27 at Crosswater Golf Course in Sunriver, Ore.