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USF Women's Golf Prepared for 2005 NCAA West Regional
May 4, 2005
(Las Cruces, N.M.) USF women's golf competes in its school record fifth consecutive NCAA Regional beginning this Thursday at the University Golf Course in Las Cruces May 5-7, 2005, hosted by New Mexico State.
San Francisco enters the 2005 NCAA West Regional after turning in another strong season, highlighted by wins at the 2004 Ron Moore Intercollegiate, hosted by Denver and the 2005 Bay Area Classic, hosted by the Dons. In addition USF posted runner-up showings at the 2005 Dr. Donnis Thompson Invitational, hosted by Hawaii and the 2005 West Coast Conference Championships.
Nine teams that earned an automatic bid by winning their respective conference tournaments highlight the 21-team field, which also includes three of the best individual golfers in the land. UCLA, champions of the PAC-10, and Oklahoma State, winners of the Big XII tournament will be in attendance while perennial contenders Arizona, UCA, Stanford, Tennessee and others will also be vying for a chance to move on to the NCAA National Championships May 17-20.
Denver, which defeated the Aggie women's golf team by just two strokes at the 2005 Sun Belt Conference Championships last week in Port St. Lucie, Fla., will also be in the 21-team field as the Pioneers make their fourth straight appearance in the West Regional. The three individuals that qualified for spots in the event are Kay Hoey of Long Beach State, Laura Luethke of Fresno State and Renee Skidmore of Idaho.
NMSU, which had appeared in 11 consecutive NCAA West Regionals before this season, was not granted an at-large bid by the NCAA Monday after finishing runner-up to Denver last week.
The New Mexico State University Golf Course, which has been home to a variety of high class NCAA competition over the years, has overseen a major renovation in the last year with a brand new, state-of-the-art clubhouse and new course layout. In 1968, the course was home to NCAA Men's Golf Championships and in 1998 the course hosted the NCAA Women's Golf Championships. The course has also been the venue for the 1990 Men's West Regional, two Missouri Valley Conference Championships and two Big West Conference Championships over the years.
The Regional will get underway Wednesday, May 4 with a practice round for all the competing teams and individuals. The practice round will begin at 7:30 a.m. and be played at the NMSU Golf Course. The first round of the Regional will begin with tee times at 7:30 a.m. Thursday morning. West Regional
The West regional will be played May 5-7 at New Mexico State University Golf Course, Las Cruces, New Mexico, hosted by New Mexico State University. Conference automatic qualifiers are indicated in parenthesis next to the institution.
Teams:
1. UCLA (Pacific-10 Conference)
2. Georgia
3. Oklahoma State (Big 12 Conference)
4. Tennessee
5. Southern California
6. Arizona
7. California
8. Washington State
9. Stanford
10. UNLV (Mountain West Conference)
11. Oregon
12. San Francisco
13. UC Irvine (Big West Conference)
14. Brigham Young
15. Colorado State
16. Portland State (Big Sky Conference)
17. Northwestern
18. Oral Roberts (Mid-Continent Conference)
19. Illinois State (Missouri Valley Conference)
20. Georgia State (Atlantic Sun Conference)
21. Denver (Sun Belt Conference)
Individuals: 1. Kay Hoey, Long Beach State 2. Laura Luethke, Fresno State 3. Renee Skidmore, Idaho
