May 8, 2000
THIS WEEK:
Thurs.-Sat. May 11-13 at NCAA West Regional Tempe, AZ
CAL COMPETES AT FIRST NCAA REGIONAL
Cal travels to the NCAA West Regional, Thurs.-Sat., May 11-13, at the par 72, 6-131-yard Karsten Golf Course on the campus of Arizona State in Tempe, Ariz. Coming off a school-best fourth place finish at the Pac-10 Championship, the Bears earned their first regional berth in the program's five-year history. Eighteen holes will be played each day beginning at 7:30 a.m. PT. The final group tees off at 1:20 p.m. each day. The top four scores from each five-person team count towards the team score. Eleven teams and three individuals will qualify for the NCAA Championship from each of two regionals. An additional two team berths will be allocated to the region with the most teams ranked in the top 24.
THE FIELD
Twenty-four teams and six individuals from the West and Far West districts have qualified for the 2000 NCAA West Regional. All 24 teams are ranked in the top 50 in the latest MasterCard Collegiate Golf Rankings. The field includes seven of the top 10 teams in the nation in No. 1 Arizona, No. 3 USC, No. 4 Arizona State, No. 6 Pepperdine, No. 7 Stanford, No. 9 Oklahoma State and No. 10 New Mexico State. The rest of the field is made up of No. 11 San Jose State, No. 14 UCLA, No. 15 Texas, No. 16 New Mexico, No. 17 Tulsa, No. 22 Oklahoma, No. 23 TCU, No. 25 California, No. 26 Oregon, No. 27 Nebraska, No. 31 Missouri, No. 33 Washington, No. 34 Baylor, No. 35 Texas Tech, No. 45 Oregon State, No. 48 BYU and No. 49 Washington State.
TWO BEARS RANKED IN THE TOP 100 NATIONALLY
Sophomore Anne Walker, a two-time honorable mention All-Pac-10 selection, is ranked No. 34 nationally in the MasterCard/College Golf Foundation rankings. Walker also will represent Cal at the 2000 NCAA Leadership Conference, May 28-June 1. Freshman Vikki Laing is ranked No. 81. This is Laing's highest ranking and the highest Walker has been ranked since being No. 22 in the fall of 1998.
2000 PAC-10 CHAMPIONSHIPS IN REVIEW
California shot a school record round of 292 in the final round of the Pac-10 Championship to finish in fourth place with a three round score of 904. The Golden Bears previous best conference finish was seventh at last year's tournament. Walker led the Bears as the highest individual finisher in school history, tying for 11th with a 225 after carding a final round 73.
CAL IMPROVES EVERY YEAR
Every year since the Cal program's inception in 1995-96, coach Nancy McDaniel's team has improved its stroke average. 1995-96: 333.5, 1996-97: 324.7, 1997-98: 319.8, 1998-99: 310.7, 1999-00: 305.8.
BEARS LINEUP
Cal's NCAA regional lineup features in order: sophomore Anne Walker, freshman Vikki Laing, senior Nicole Bolter, senior Lisa Yamane and junior Cheryl Lala.
