Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowgirl Golfers Advance to NCAA Championships
May 13, 2007 | Cowgirl Golf
The team title is the first for Oklahoma State at an NCAA Regional since the format began in 1993. The best previous finish by the Cowgirls occurred in 2003, when OSU finished second to USC.
“It's amazing, of course, because I know that OSU has never won an NCAA Regional before,” said Lindberg. “It's given us a lot of confidence before heading to nationals in two weeks.”
The Cowgirls played well as a team, with all five starters counting their scores at least twice during the tournament.
“I felt like we really managed our games well,” said OSU head coach Laura Matthews. “We handled the golf course well, staying in the moment. It was a true team effort. Everyone played really well.”
Sophomore Amanda Johnson, a Jenks, Okla., native, was solid the entire tournament and it showed as she finished in the top-10 individually for the second-straight tournament. Her 218 total is the lowest of her collegiate career.
Cowgirl freshman Sarah Bradley struggled during the first round of the tournament but turned in solid scores of 72-73 during the final two rounds to finish 20th individually.
Lindberg is just the second Cowgirl in school history to win the individual title at an NCAA Regional. Charlotta Eliasson won medalist honors at the 1994 NCAA West Regional by one stroke over Janice Moodie of San Jose State.
“I was striking the ball really, really well all week and hitting lots of greens,” Lindberg said. “That was the key for me, because I never ended up in any trouble. Before the tournament, people were talking about how tough the course was, but if you hit the ball well, no course is very tough.”
Lindberg's seven-stroke victory over Arizona State's Anna Nordqvist, the No. 2 ranked golfer in the country, is the third of her career and her sixth top-four finish in the last seven tournaments. In that span, she has shot a sub-par score in 11 of 21 rounds and seven of those rounds have been in the 60s.
When asked what Oklahoma State needed to work on in preparation for the NCAA Division I Women's Golf Championship in two weeks, Coach Matthews replied with just one aspect.
“We're going to work a lot on our short game over the next week,” Matthews responded. “We all seemed to hit the ball pretty well, but I think the short game is going to help us at nationals.
“This week is an eye opener as to what they can accomplish and shows them that they can play with anybody in the country. Its just a matter of going out and playing our game.”
NCAA West Regional
Entrada at Snow Canyon Country Club (par 71 • 6,234 yards)
St. George, Utah • May 10-12, 2007
Team Results 1. Oklahoma State 291-290-293--874 Stanford 287-300-287--874 3. Arizona State 294-296-286--876 4. Denver 299-306-286--891 5. BYU 291-311-296--898 UC Irvine 295-302-301--898 7. Pepperdine 301-299-299--899 8. New Mexico 298-312-298--908
Did not advance to NCAA Championships 9. San Jose State 308-305-296--909 10. Florida 309-304-297--910 11. Washington State 301-309-303--913 12. Idaho 308-309-301--918 13. Campbell 305-308-309--922 14. Hawaii 313-306-317--936 15. Nebraska 328-309-314--951 16. Sacramento State 318-318-316--952 17. UNLV 319-310-325--954 18. San Francisco 310-316-329--955 19. California 321-307-329--957 20. Columbia 335-310-324--969 21. Memphis 320-312-343--975
Individual Results 1. Pernilla Lindberg, OSU 68-68-70--206 2. Anna Nordqvist, Arizona State 72-74-67--213 3. Mari Chun, Stanford 73-72-69--214 Rachel Newren, BYU 72-73-69--214 5. Misun Cho, Pepperdine 71-70-75--216 6. Juliana Murcia, Arizona State 73-71-73--217 7. Amanda Johnson, OSU 70-74-74--218 Jodi Ewart, New Mexico 71-75-72--218 Stephanie Sherlock, Denver 70-76-72--218
Other OSU Golfers 15. Sarah Bradley 77-72-73--222 44. Karin Kinnerud 76-77-76--229 56. Mallorie Underwood 81-76-76--233
