Golfweek

By RAY McCARTHY
Assistant Editor

Positivity is contagious, and freshman Maria Jose Uribe has infected her UCLA teammates with a happy-go-lucky attitude that is producing good scores for the Bruins.

Uribe fired a 7-under 65 in the first round of the NCAA Women’s Central Regional to take a one-shot lead over Purdue junior Maria Hernandez Thursday at the University of Texas Golf Club.

“We’re excited to come down to this part of the season where it’s really important to play well,” UCLA coach Carrie Forsyth said. “Our goal is to be as consistent as possible.”

Uribe, last year’s U.S. Women’s Amateur champion, stuck a fairway wood to just inches for a tap-in eagle on No. 14 en route to her bogey-free 65. A stepped-up effort to improve her short game and a better mentality on the course propelled Uribe in her round.

“If you asked her, she’d say (being positive) is something she works very hard at,” Forsyth said. “But she has a warm, genuine personality.”

Uribe’s infectious personality has spread to her teammates and naturally placed her in a leadership role.

“If you’re coming off the course after a bad round and someone is saying, ‘Turn it around,’ it has a major impact on them,” Forsyth said.

UCLA is on top of a tight team race with a two-stroke lead over Texas Christian. Purdue stands in third.

Thirteen players finished the day under par, and Uribe leads a tight pack atop the leaderboard. TCU’s Valentine Derry shot a 5-under 67 and is in third, two shots ahead of N.C. State’s Lauren Doughtie, who is in fourth.

• • •

ACE UP THE SLEEVE: Hernandez’s 6-under 66 in the first round of the NCAA Central Regional served a three-fold purpose.

Not only does it have the junior one shot behind Uribe in second place, but it tied Hernandez’s career-low and also included a hole-in-one on the 174-yard, par-3 second hole.

Hernandez, ranked No. 7 in the Golfweek/Sagarin College Rankings, is coming off a 10-shot win at the Big Ten Championships, where she first shot her career-best 66 in the third round. The Boilermakers won the Big Ten by 24 shots.

• • •

VINDICATION: Coastal Carolina sophomore Aruka Felgueroso received the nation’s last individual bid to the NCAA Regionals amid a sea of controversy.

At No. 184 in the Golfweek/Sagarin College Rankings, she was the lowest-ranked player among individuals by 50 spots. Felgueroso, however, took a step toward silencing critics with a first-round 70 in the NCAA Central Regional. She’s five shots back of Uribe in a five-way tie for fifth.

Last season, Felgueroso was fourth through 36 holes of the East Regional tournament until a back-nine bogey and triple bogey left her two shots out of a playoff for the final spot to the national championship.

“I was trying to be more conservative so I could stay where I was,” she said of last season’s collapse. “I’m normally really relaxed on the golf course. I think the mistake was I accelerated (my swing) because I was getting nervous.”

Felgueroso finished last season ranked No. 50.

• • •

SURPRISE, SURPRISE: Seeded 11th in the 21-team field, Texas Christian sits just two back of top-seeded UCLA, the second-ranked team in the country. TCU’s 3-under 285 was the second-best one-day score in school history.

TCU was led by sophomore Valentine Derrey, who tied her own school record with a 5-under 67 to sit in third, two behind Uribe.

The key to the Horned Frogs’ solid start Thursday was the play of two of three freshmen on the squad, Allyson Ferguson and Prisela Campbell.

Ferguson’s 1-under 71 was three strokes better than her career-low, and Campbell’s 73 matched a career-best.

---

Scores with relation to par from the first round of the NCAA Women's Central Regional, played May 8 at the par-72, 6,301-yard he University of Texas Golf Club in Austin, Texas. (Note: Playing as individual):

TEAMS

1. UCLA	283			-5
2. TCU	285			-3
3. Purdue	288			E
4. Denver	292		+	4
5. Nebraska	294		+	6
6. Texas A&M	295		+	7
7. Florida State	298		+	10
8. Texas	299		+	11
9. Louisiana State	300		+	12
9. North Carolina St.	300		+	12
11. Texas State	301		+	13
12. Notre Dame	302		+	14
13. Alabama	304		+	16
13. Pepperdine	304		+	16
15. Kent State	305		+	17
16. East Tennessee St.	307		+	19
16. Texas Tech Univ	307		+	19
18. Washington	312		+	24
19. Illinois State	313		+	25
20. Harvard	314		+	26
21. Fairleigh Dickinson	354		+	66
TEAMS
1. Maria Jose Uribe, UCLA	65			-7
2. Maria Hernandez, Purdue	66			-6
3. Valentine Derrey, TCU	67			-5
4. Lauren Doughtie, North Carolina St.	69			-3
5. Whitney Brummett, Florida State	70			-2
5. y-Aruka Felgueroso, Coastal Carolina	70			-2
5. Laura Jansone, East Tennessee St.	70			-2
5. Katie Kempter, Denver	70			-2
5. Caroline Westrup, Florida State	70			-2
10. Christel Boeljon, Purdue	71			-1
10. Allyson Ferguson, TCU	71			-1
10. y-Steffi Kirchmayr, College of Charleston	71			-1
10. Danielle McVeigh, Texas A&M	71			-1
14. Leanne Bowditch, Pepperdine	72			E
14. Elli Brown, Nebraska	72			E
14. Sydnee Michaels, UCLA	72			E
14. Sarah Zwartynski, Texas A&M	72			E
18. Prisella Campbell, TCU	73		+	1
18. Stephanie Derrey, North Carolina St.	73		+	1
18. Shannon Fish, Texas	73		+	1
18. Tiffany Joh, UCLA	73		+	1
18. Camilla Lennarth, Alabama	73		+	1
18. Lisa Maunu, Notre Dame	73		+	1
18. Megan McChrystal, Louisiana State	73		+	1
18. Ashley Rollins, Texas	73		+	1
18. JC Stevenson, Nebraska	73		+	1
18. Maiya Tanaka, UCLA	73		+	1
18. Amalie Valle, Louisiana State	73		+	1
18. Kate White, Nebraska	73		+	1
30. Caitlin Bliss, Texas State	74		+	2
30. Kirby Dreher, Kent State	74		+	2
30. Ellie Givens, Denver	74		+	2
30. Linn Gustafsson, Texas State	74		+	2
30. Carrie Morris, TCU	74		+	2
30. So-Hyun Park, Notre Dame	74		+	2
30. Stephanie Sherlock, Denver	74		+	2
30. Dawn Shockley, Denver	74		+	2
30. Glory Yang, UCLA	74		+	2
39. Jayvie Agojo, Pepperdine	75		+	3
39. Molly Aronsson, Washington	75		+	3
39. Christine Brijalba, Texas State	75		+	3
39. Karinn Dickinson, Washington	75		+	3
39. Martina Gavier, Kent State	75		+	3
39. Courtney Harter, Alabama	75		+	3
39. Lauren Johnson, Texas A&M	75		+	3
39. Maude-Aimee Leblanc, Purdue	75		+	3
47. Chelsea Benton, Denver	76		+	4
47. Caney Hines, Texas	76		+	4
47. Tiffany Hockensmith, Illinois State	76		+	4
47. Taylore Karle, Pepperdine	76		+	4
47. Stephanie Oukeo, Purdue	76		+	4
47. Robyn Scott, Texas Tech Univ	76		+	4
47. Gloriana Soto, Texas Tech Univ	76		+	4
47. Ulrika van Niekerk, Texas Tech Univ	76		+	4
47. Charlotte Wendner, Nebraska	76		+	4
47. Kristin Wetzel, Notre Dame	76		+	4
57. Julia Best, Texas	77		+	5
57. Ali Bode, Harvard	77		+	5
57. Kathleen Ekey, Alabama	77		+	5
57. Ashley Freeman, Texas A&M	77		+	5
57. Rebecca Kuhn, Louisiana State	77		+	5
57. Caroline Martens, Louisiana State	77		+	5
57. Marisa Milligan, Illinois State	77		+	5
57. Alexis Rather, Louisiana State	77		+	5
57. y-Sara Wikstrom, Arkansas-Little Rock	77		+	5
66. Tara Delaney, Kent State	78		+	6
66. Junthima Gulyanamitta, Purdue	78		+	6
66. Kira Meixner, Kent State	78		+	6
66. Trine Mortensen, Texas State	78		+	6
66. Maria Ringdahl, East Tennessee St.	78		+	6
66. Macarena Silva, Florida State	78		+	6
66. Emily Street, North Carolina St.	78		+	6
73. Emily Balmert, Harvard	79		+	7
73. Helena Blomberg, Alabama	79		+	7
73. Katie Conway, Notre Dame	79		+	7
73. Megan Dowdy, Texas Tech Univ	79		+	7
73. Natalia Giraldo, East Tennessee St.	79		+	7
73. Sarah Harvey, Harvard	79		+	7
73. Claire Sheldon, Harvard	79		+	7
73. Kristin Walla, Texas	79		+	7
81. Lucy Gould, East Tennessee St.	80		+	8
81. Marci Hill, Illinois State	80		+	8
81. Stacey Miller, Illinois State	80		+	8
81. Julie Saleeby, North Carolina St.	80		+	8
81. Maddi Swaney, Kent State	80		+	8
81. Whitney Wright, Florida State	80		+	8
87. Martine de Gannes, Pepperdine	81		+	9
87. Nicole Ferrero, Washington	81		+	9
87. Laura Harris, Illinois State	81		+	9
87. Melissa Loh, TCU	81		+	9
87. Christina Yoon, Washington	81		+	9
92. Lauren Cousart, Florida State	82		+	10
92. Sehee Kim, Texas State	82		+	10
92. Joanna Saleeby, North Carolina St.	82		+	10
92. Allison Stewart, Nebraska	82		+	10
92. Sarah Sturm, Alabama	82		+	10
97. Anya Alvarez, Washington	83		+	11
97. Jessica Hazlett, Harvard	83		+	11
97. Miranda Orr, Texas A&M	83		+	11
97. Sinead O'Sullivan, East Tennessee St.	83		+	11
101. Annie Brophy, Notre Dame	84		+	12
102. Stephanie Gelleni, Pepperdine	86		+	14
102. Alex Gibson, Texas Tech Univ	86		+	14
102. Michele Holzwarth, Fairleigh Dickinson	86		+	14
105. Lauren Chapman, Fairleigh Dickinson	87		+	15
106. Sarah Feldman, Fairleigh Dickinson	89		+	17
107. Eva Mayr, Fairleigh Dickinson	92		+	20
107. Lisa Warrilow, Fairleigh Dickinson	92		+	20

Posted: 5/8/2008

print

email

discuss