Women's Golf In Fifth; Vander Lende Tied For Lead

Thursday, May 22

West Lafayette, IN

12:00 AM

Florida Gators

NCAA Championships

Women's Golf In Fifth; Vander Lende Tied For Lead

Friday, May 23, 2003 | Women's Golf

Sophomore Andrea Vander Lende (Longwood, Fla.) is currently tied for the lead after shooting a collegiate best three-under-par 69 in the third round of the 2003 NCAA Championships to lead the field with a five-over-par 220 as the No. 8 University of Florida women's golf team is currently in fifth place with a score of 918 (313-307-298) at the Kampen Course in West Lafayette, Ind. Southern California is in the lead for the third straight day with a 37-over-par 901.

"Throughout this year we have had horrible weather and I think that playing in those tournaments, in bad conditions has helped me," Vander Lende said. "I felt very calm yesterday and today even though it was windy. I wasn't frazzled or upset, I was very calm. I'm going to play as well as I can tomorrow and I'm excited."

Vander Lende began the day in ninth place with a seven-over-par 151. She bogeyed her first hole, but came back to birdie six holes throughout the third round, including three straight on holes 13, 14 and 15 to register the tournament's low round. Vander Lende is tied with Southern California's Mikaela Parmlid who shot a two-under-par 70 for the day. Last year, she recorded best finish for the Lady Gators as she tied for 12th at the NCAA Championships and was the only freshman to finish in the top 15 at the tournament.

Freshman Aimee Cho (Orlando, Fla.), who led the Lady Gators for the past two days, struggled in the third round as she shot a nine-over-par 81 and is now tied for 25th place with a score of 230 (75-74-81).

Senior Brittany Straza (Fort Myers, Fla.) improved her standing as she is now tied for 42nd place, carding a two-over-par 74 for the day and has a score of 232 (80-78-74) for the tournament. Junior Amanda Dick (Clearwater, Fla.) also improved in the third round as she shot a five-over-par 77 and is tied for 83rd place with a 241 (81-83-77). Senior Jeanne Cho (Bradenton, Fla.) shot a six-over-par 78 and is tied for 93rd place with a score of 243 (84-81-78).

The NCAA Championships will conclude with the fourth and final round on Friday, May 23. The Lady Gators will begin teeing off at 1:30 p.m. Eastern time. Live scoring of the tournament is available at www.golfstat.com.

2003 NCAA Women's Golf Championships

Team Scores

1. Southern California 305-303-293--901 (+37)

2. Pepperdine 315-298-295--908 (+44)

3. Oklahoma State 309-302-301--912 (+48)

4. Texas 317-310-290--917 (+53)

5. Florida 313-307-298--918 (+54)

6. Auburn 317-303-300--920 (+56)

7. Ohio State 309-307-305--921 (+57)

8. Purdue 316-309-304--929 (+65)

9. UCLA 314-314-296--924 (+60)

10. Duke 318-314-294--926 (+62)