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May 20, 2003

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WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Only 18 holes of the NCAA Women's Golf Championships were played at the Kampen Golf Course at the Birck Boilermaker Complex, Tuesday.

But for many of the participants, the first round seemed to encompass the entire 72 holes of the tournament.

Under conditions that Washington State Head Coach Walt Williams described as "probably the toughest we played in all year" the Cougars played - or rather endured - the first round of the national championships.

The Cougars battled a combination of rain, fog, winds with gusts that reached as high as 28 miles per hour and temperatures in the mid-50's during their morning outing on the par 72, 6,225 yard Pete Dye designed course.

Sophomore Kim Welch, coming off a second place tie at the NCAA West Regional, May 10, combated the elements to post a 4-over-par 76 and sits in a tie for 10th place heading into Wednesday's second round.

In what can be considered an example of bad timing, the sun broke through for the first time in the day just as Welch was walking off the ninth green (the Cougars' 18th hole). Players in the afternoon still had to contend with windy conditions but, bolstered by the emerged sun, temperatures warmed up to the low-60's during the latter portion of Tuesday.

The remainder of the Cougars struggled in the elements as Ashleigh Gilhuly, Maria Kostina, Stephanie Parsley or Jay-Lee Longbottom could break 89.

As a team the Cougars sit in 24th position with a score of 343, three shots behind Wisconsin. The Cougars begin their second round at 12:10 p.m. CST from the first hole. Forecast for Wednesday is mostly sunny with highs in the mid-60's.

Quotes

Kim Welch 4-over-par (76)

(on what she has to do to improve from Tuesday's round) "Make some more putts. I feel like I hit it pretty well today."

(on the weather conditions) "It was tough. It was definitely tough. But putting is putting and no matter what the weather is doing you still have to make putts and I didn't really do that today."

Coach Walt Williams

(on the first round) "Today was disappointing. Tough conditions on a really tough golf course with a lot of inexperienced young women that have never been in this type of event, it's a recipe for difficulty and we certainly had difficulty out there today."

(on his goals for the second round) "I didn't really come in here trying to beat anybody. I came in here trying to let the players have a good experience and to build on the experience we are having. Today we didn't play well. Tomorrow we want to play well, whatever that is. That's basically the goal, is to come back and play well whatever that score might be."

NCAA Championships
May 20-23
Kampen Golf Course at the Birck Boilermaker Complex
West Lafayette, Ind.
Par 72, 6,225 yards
After 1 of 4 rounds

WSU Results:
T10. Kim Welch (76, +4), T119. Maria Kostina (89, +17), T119. Ashleigh Gilhuly (89, +17), T119. Stephanie Parsley (89, +17), 126. Jay-Lee Longbottom (94, +22).

Team Results:
1. USC 305 (+17), 2. Oklahoma State 308 (+20), 3. Ohio State 309 (+21), 4. Florida 313 (+25), 5. UCLA 314 (+26), 6. Pepperdine 315 (+27), T7. Stanford 316 (+28), T7. Purdue 318 (+28), T9. Texas 317 (+29), T9. Auburn 317 (+29), T11. Arizona 318 (+30), T11. Duke 318 (+30), T11. South Carolina 318 (+30), T14. Georgia 320 (+32), T14. Nebraska 320 (+32), T14. Arizona State 320 (+32), T17. California 321 (+33), T17. North Carolina 321 (+33), T17. Vanderbilt 321 (+33), 20. Kent State 324 (+36), T21. Tulsa 329 (+41), T21. Florida State 329 (+41), 23. Wisconsin 340 (+52), 24. Washington State 343 (+55).

Top Five Individuals:
T1. Virada Nitapathpongporn, Duke (72, E), T1. Annie Thurman, Oklahoma State (72, E), four players tied for third at 74 (+2).