Florida Gators
NCAA Championships
Vander Lende Finishes Second; Women's Golf Eighth
Saturday, May 24, 2003 | Women's Golf
Sophomore Andrea Vander Lende (Longwood, Fla.) earned All-America honors, finishing runner-up to Southern California's Mikaela Parmlid as the No. 8 University of Florida women's golf team finished in eighth place with a score of 1221 (313-307-298-303) at the NCAA Championships at the Kampen Course in West Lafayette, Ind. Southern California won the team title with a score of 1197 (305-303-293-296).
"This team fought hard all week long," Head Coach Jill Briles-Hinton said. "They did not play as well as they would have liked to, but each one hung in there and made a run at the end."
Vander Lende and Parmlid went into a tiebreaker after both finishing nine-over-par 297 (77-74-69-77) for the tournament. After Vander Lende waited over an hour to get back on the course because of a rules clarification. Vander Lende hit the ball into the rough two times, as Parmlid made par to win the tiebreaker.
"I'm proud of the fact that I fought back and put myself in position to win," Vander Lende said. "If someone would have told me that I was going to finish second at the beginning of the week I would have been pleased."
Vander Lende began the day tied for first place with Parmlid, but through 10 holes she was seven-over-par for the day. She continued to fight back up the rankings as she birdied three holes in a row on 11, 12 and 13 to be back at four-over-par. Vander Lende kept her composure, paring the next four holes and bogeyed the last hole to finish at five-over-par 77 for the round. On Thursday as she birdied six holes to register the tournament's low round and a collegiate best three-under par 69. Last year, she also recorded the 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.
"Andrea did a fantastic job," Briles-Hinton said. "She was six-over for the day going into the ninth hole, but she fought back. I am very proud of her and she needs to be very proud of herself.
Senior Brittany Straza (Fort Myers, Fla.) finished tied for 24th place, carding a 16-over-par 304 (80-78-74-72) for the tournament. Straza began the round with a bogey on the first hole, but birdied the second and third holes to put herself at one-under-par. On hole seven, made her third birdie of the day to go to two-under-par. She pared the next four holes to stay at two-under-par, but bogeyed the 12th and 18th holes to finish at even par.
Freshman Aimee Cho (Orlando, Fla.) tied for 40th place, shooting a 19-over-par 307 (75-74-81-77). Cho led the Lady Gators during the first two days of the championships, but struggled in the final two rounds. Junior Amanda Dick (Clearwater, Fla.) finished in 85th place with a score of 318 (81-83-77-77) and senior Jeanne Cho (Bradenton, Fla.) tied for 88th place with a 321 (84-81-78-78).
The Lady Gators finish their season with five top-five tournament finishes and 7-of-9 tournaments in the top 10. Florida won their second straight SunTrust Lady Gator Invitational in March, carding a three-round 873. The Lady Gators also finished runner-up at the SEC Championships, falling to Auburn by two strokes as freshman Aimee Cho was the second freshman in Florida history to win medallist honors.
2003 NCAA Women's Golf Championships
Team Scores
1. Southern California 305-303-293-296--1197 (+45)
2. Pepperdine 315-298-295-304--1212 (+60)
3. Texas 317-310-290-296--1213 (+61)
4. Ohio State 309-307-305-293--1214 (+62)
T5. Oklahoma State 309-302-301-304-1216 (+64)
UCLA 314-314-296-292--1216 (+64)
7. Arizona 318-314-295-290--1217 (+65)
8. Florida 313-307-298-303--1221 (+69)
9. Auburn 317-303-300-304--1224 (+72)
10. Duke 318-314-294-299--1225 (+73)
11. Georgia 320-314-300-292--1226 (+74)
12. Purdue 316-309-304-305--1234 (+82)
13. North Carolina 321-317-304-299--1211 (+89)
14. California 321-311-304-306--1242 (+90)
15. Vanderbilt 321-312-305-304--1242 (+90)
16. Stanford 316-321-307-301--1245 (+93)
17. South Carolina 318-318-315-303--1248 (+96)
18. Arizona State 320-311-309-310--1250 (+98)
19 Florida State 329-318-306-303--1256 (+104)
20. Kent State 324-308-307-317--1256 (+104)
21. Tulsa 329-305-315-308--1257 (+105)
22. Nebraska 320-333-314-314--1281 (+129)
23. Washington State 343-321-310-314--1288 (+136)
24. Wisconsin 340-316-323-312--1291 (+139)
Florida Finishes
2. Andrea Vander Lende 77-74-69-77--297 (+9)
T24. Brittany Straza 80-78-74-72--304 (+16)
T40. Aimee Cho 75-74-81-77--307 (+19)
85. Amanda Dick 81-83-77-77--318 (+30)
T88. Jeanne Cho 84-81-78-78--321 (+33)
UF
