May 22, 2004
OPELIKA, Ala. - Arizona State finished 10th at the 2004 NCAA Women's Golf Championships, which concluded Saturday afternoon at the par 72, 6,215-yard Grand National Lake Course.
The 10th-place finish marked the 17th top 10 national showing in Arizona State's 23 NCAA Championships appearance and the first for the team since 2002. The Sun Devils have now turned in top 15 finishes in 21 of their 23 trips to the NCAA Championships.
UCLA won the 2004 NCAA title with a four-day total of four-under par 1148. The Bruins fired a two-over 290 in the final round, which was delayed by lightning for over two hours and shortened by darkness on Friday and completed on Saturday. UCLA posted a three-stroke victory over NCAA runner-up Oklahoma State (1151), while Duke (1159), California (1172) and Vanderbilt (1180) rounded out the top five teams.
After being in 24th place out of 24 teams after a rough first round on Tuesday, the Sun Devils fired season-best 291s on Wednesday and Thursday to climb into the top 10. With three true freshmen, a sophomore and a junior in the lineup, ASU finished the tournament with an 11-over 299 in the final round for a four-day total of 1191 and a 10th-place finish, the first for second-year head coach Melissa Luellen at ASU.
Individually, sophomore Alissa Kuczka and freshman Tiffany Tavee led the Sun Devils with ties for 37th place at eight-over 296. Kuczka fired a one-over 73 in the final round (76-73-74-73), while Tavee turned in a four-over 76 on Saturday in her first NCAA appearance (77-71-72-76). It marked the 11th time in 13 tournaments this year that the Sun Devils had an underclassman as the team's top finisher.
Freshman Charmaine Erasmus finished her first NCAA Championships strong, carding an even-par 72 in the final round to tie for 49th at 10-over 298 (80-75-71-72). Junior Erin Tone, the lone upperclassman in ASU's lineup, tied for 80th (77-72-74-82=305), while freshman Lindsay Anderson finished 124th (82-83-91-78=334) in her first NCAA appearance.
California's Sarah Huarte captured the NCAA individual title, finishing with a four-day total of 10-under 278 after firing a 69 in the final round (73-69-67-69). Huarte earned the one-stroke victory over NCAA runner-up Karin Sjodin of Oklahoma State (279).
2004 NCAA Women's Golf Championships May 18-22, 2004 - Final Results Grand National Lake Course - Opelika, Ala.
1 UCLA -4 F +2 289 283 286 290 1148 2 Oklahoma State -1 F E 288 293 282 288 1151 3 Duke +7 F +6 289 284 292 294 1159 4 California +20 F +1 309 282 292 289 1172 5 Vanderbilt +28 F +8 298 284 302 296 1180 T6 Texas +32 F +6 302 295 293 294 1184 T6 Washington +32 F -4 305 298 297 284 1184 8 Ohio State +35 F +8 296 292 303 296 1187 9 Georgia +38 F +10 302 297 293 298 1190 10 Arizona State +39 F +11 310 291 291 299 1191 11 Tennessee +41 F +4 303 297 301 292 1193 T12 Southern California +43 F +9 307 286 305 297 1195 T12 Stanford +43 F +10 303 296 298 298 1195 14 Wake Forest +44 F +11 298 289 310 299 1196 T15 New Mexico +45 F +9 304 292 304 297 1197 T15 Arizona +45 F +9 302 300 298 297 1197 T15 Furman University +45 F +9 302 296 302 297 1197 T15 North Carolina, U of +45 F +5 304 300 300 293 1197 T19 Baylor +46 F +8 299 308 295 296 1198 T19 Florida State Univ. +46 F +13 301 301 295 301 1198 21 UNLV +52 F +7 308 299 302 295 1204 22 Purdue +53 F +8 307 294 308 296 1205 23 Texas A&M University +59 F +13 306 302 302 301 1211 24 Michigan State +63 F +17 302 310 298 305 1215
Sun Devil Finishers: T37. Alissa Kuczka 296 (76-73-74-73) and Tiffany Tavee 296 (77-71-72-76); T49. Charmaine Erasmus 298 (80-75-71-72); T80. Erin Tone 305 (77-72-74-82); 124. Lindsay Anderson 334 (82-83-91-78).