Florida Gators
NCAA Championships
Women's Golf Finishes Tied for Sixth at NCAAs
Saturday, May 25, 2002 | Women's Golf
The Florida Gator women's golf team finished its season Friday tied for sixth at the 2002 NCAA Championships, shooting a final-round 295 to finish with a four-day total of 1179. The Gators' finish is the team's best national finish since Florida was the runner-up in 1998. Duke claimed the team title, followed Auburn, Texas and Arizona in a three-way tie for second place.
"I'm very proud of this team. We've worked hard all year," said Head Coach Jill Briles-Hinton. "At the start of the season, I don't think anyone expected us to be in contention. We stayed focused and committed to our goals, and in the end we played the way we knew we could."
"We're a young team. This past week's experience at the NCAA Championships is invaluable to our maturing process. We will be back next year."
Florida began the day paired with fellow SEC members Georgia and Auburn, who Thursday shot a three-under 285 to move back into the top 10. The Gators made the turn at hole 10 at just one-over-par. Junior Brittany Straza (Ft. Myers, Fla.) made the turn at two-under-par after making birdies on holes five and seven. Junior Jeanne Cho (Boulogne, France) began her round with a bogey on the first hole, but birdied the ninth hole to make the turn at even-par, as did freshman Whitney Code (Tampa, Fla.), who birdied hole six and bogeyed hole seven. Freshman Andrea Vander Lende (Longwood, Fla.), who entered the day with a two-under-par 214, moved to hole 10 at three-over-par, and sophomore Amanda Dick (Clearwater, Fla.) made the turn at four-over-par.
Vander Lende carded a four-over-par 76 on the day, finishing the tournament in 12th place with a 290. Cho followed, shooting a two-over-par 74 to finish the Championships with a 296 to tie for 31st place, while Straza shot even-par over the final nine holes of the tournament, finishing with a 70 to tie for 41st place with a four-round 297. Code finished right behind Straza, carding a three-over 75 on the final day to tie for 45th place with a 298. Dick rounded out Florida's scoring with a final-round 81 to tie for 107th with a four-day total of 312.
"I'm really excited and happy with my first year," said Vander Lende. "I think my teammates have pushed me and made me better. I think next year will be even better for us."
Vander Lende, who was honored after the tournament for finishing 12th, was the only freshman to finish in the top 15.
Duke's Virada Nirapathpongporn claimed the individual title, shooting a nine-under-par 279. The four-day total attendance for the NCAA Championships was 1,625.
The Gators finish the season with three wins, the most since the 1995-96 season.
Florida Notes
The Gators' 878 at the NCAA East Regional is the fifth-best team three-round team score in Florida history.
This year's squad ranks fourth in Gator history in lowest average team scores per three-round tournament at 903.9 strokes per event.
With Florida's 1,179 total strokes, the 2001-02 team ranks third in school history in lowest average team scores per round (300.53), just behind the 1986 national championship team, which averaged 299.19 per round.
Vander Lende put together the best three-round total of her career during the first three rounds of the NCAA Championships, shooting a two- under-par 214. Her previous best total was 223 at the NCAA East Regional.
Vander Lende was the only freshman to finish in the top 15 in this year's Championships.
Team Scores
1. Duke 294-293-290-287--1164
T2. Arizona 285-296-293-296--1170
T2. Texas 305-286-285-294--1170
T2. Auburn 298-300-285-287--1170
5. Georgia 294-294-296-292--1176
T6. Florida 298-291-295-295--1179
T6. Oklahoma 299-289-301-290--1179
8. Ohio State 299-292-296-293--1180
T9. Arizona State 301-292-292-301--1186
T9. Pepperdine 301-294-297-294--1186
11. Stanford 299-295-295-298--1187
12. Tulsa 302-297-296-293--1188
13. Oklahoma State 299-303-297-290--1189
14. Southern California 307-294-298-293--1192
15. California 298-303-292-300--1193
16. Purdue 304-296-297-301--1198
17. Michigan 301-299-299-300--1199
18. Vanderbilt 311-296-296-298--1201
19. Michigan State 305-297-311-289--1202
20. Washington 302-297-305-299--1203
21. UCLA 314-297-298-295--1204
22. Wake Forest 298-305-302-301--1206
23. South Carolina 298-298-308-313--1217
24. South Florida 313-322-323-313--1271
Florida Scores
12. Andrea Vander Lende 71-72-71-74--290
T31. Jeanne Cho 76-73-73-74--296
T41. Brittany Straza 77-74-76-70--297
T45. Whitney Code 74-74-75-75--298
T107. Amanda Dick 82-72-77-81--312
