Lady'Back Golfers selected to NCAA Regional

Jump to regional lists FAYETTEVILLE — The 10th-ranked University of Arkansas women’s golf team travels to the state of Washington for the 2006 NCAA West Regional Championship the NCAA announced today. Arkansas makes its first trip to Washington National Golf Club for the three-day competition May 11-13. The course is a par 72 and plays to 6,289 yards. The top eight teams from each of the three regionals (East, West and Central) move on to the NCAA Championship hosted at the Scarlet Course in Columbus, Ohio, with Ohio State hosting May 23-26. "I was talking with Shauna (Estes, Arkansas assistant coach) this morning and we both kinda thought we’d go West," said Arkansas head coach Kelley Hester. "At first glance, the location might not seem great because it is so far from here but I really like the team set up out there. We have a good chance to get out of the region. You have to play well to get though any of the regionals and we know that. That’s our goal going into this." Assistant coach Shauna Estes echoed the thoughts. "I think it’s a good regional," said Estes. "The other regionals are a bit deeper in the nine to 11 spots and that’s definitely more of a challenge. Moving on will take care of itself f we play like we’re capable." Second-ranked UCLA headlines the West Regional field and enters the competition as the top seeded team in the field of 21. Number five Georgia is next followed by No. 8 Purdue, No. 10 Arkansas and No. 15 UNLV as the seeded teams. Also in the field is No. 19 Arizona, Stanford, New Mexico, host Washington, Long Beach State, Brigham Young, UC-Irvine, San Jose State, Denver, Oregon State, Washington State, New Mexico State, Georgia State, Oral Roberts, Bradley and Montana. Arkansas opens the regional action with a practice round Wednesday and tees off at 11:30 a.m. Central on Thursday. The Lady Razorbacks will be paired with UNLV and Arizona in the first round. "We enter the tournament as the number four seed," said Hester. "My first year here (2003-04) we were just happy to get in around the number 20 spot and now to go in as one of the seeded teams – I think that is an indicator of how far our program’s come in four year." Arkansas’ traveling five has been pretty consistent for much of the year. Seniors Amanda McCurdy, Courtney Mahon and Lindsey Hinshaw along with sophomores Stacy Lewis and Ashley Medders will represent the Lady’Backs. Hester is also traveling a sixth golfer, freshman Lucy Nunn, in case of injury and for the experience. "Four of the five all played in the regional and the NCAA Championship last year," said Hester. "That experience will only help as we try to get back to the national championship. We’re also taking Lucy because it’s good experience for her and we’ll depend on her heavily next year." The regional invitation is the fifth in the 11-year history of women’s golf at Arkansas. The Lady’Backs earned their first regional appearance under head coach Ulrika Belline in 2000. Arkansas has earned four consecutive regional bids under Hester beginning in 2003. For more information about Arkansas golf, log on to LADYBACKS.COM.
2006 NCAA Regional SelectionsWESTUCLAGeorgiaPurdue
ArkansasUNLVArizonaStanfordNew MexicoWashingtonLBSUBYUUC-IrvineSJSUDenverOregon StateWashington StateNMSUGeorgia StateORUBradleyMontanaJessica Potter, San FranciscoRene Skidmore, IdahoChelsea Benton, Colorado StateEASTArizona StateAuburnTennesseeWake ForestCaliforniaVanderbiltVirginiaSouth CarolinaLSUFlorida StateAlabamaNorth Carolina StateAugusta StateMarylandFurmanNorth CarolinaMiss StateCampbellCollege of CharlstonEast CarolinaYaleAdrienne White, LouisvilleChristina Jones, South FloridaMichelle Jarman, UNC-WCENTRALDukeSouthern CaliforniaPepperTexas A&MFloridaOklahoma StateKent StateOhio StateMichigan StateSouthern MethodistTCUMissouriBaylorTulsaNebraskaNorthwesternTexasBirmingham SouthernJacksonville StateJackson StateSt. FrancisSamantha Richdale, Illinois StateAmy Schmucker, MichiganAmanda Coster, Kansas