Lady Bulldog Golfers Head To NCAA East Regionals
The Lady Bulldogs enter the NCAA East Regional ranked 35th in the nation inthe latest Golfweek poll and seventh in the Southeastern Conference instroke average. The Bulldogs are lead in stroke average by second teamall-SEC performer Amanda Mathis. Mathis, a sophomore from Picayune, Miss.,currently holds an average of 75.46 which ranks 15th in the SEC. She iscurrently ranked 88th nationally in the latest Golfweek poll and reached ashigh as 24th earlier this season. Beth Irwin, Janet Dyer, Julia Huh andStephanie Godare round out the starting five for the Lady Bulldogs.
"The players have all finished their final exams and are excited aboutplaying the event and solely concentrating on golf," said head coach ChristiSanders. "The team has earned this bid from their fine play all season andwe look forward to playing well this week and earning a spot in the NCAAChampionship finals."
The Bulldogs are among nine teams from the SEC to make it to regional playand will be joined in the East Regional by conference rivals Florida, SouthCarolina and Vanderbilt. The East Regional sports seven teams in theGolfweek top-25 poll including two-time national champions and currentlyranked No. 1 Duke. Other top-25 teams include No. 6 Pepperdine, No. 8Washington, No. 10 Ohio State, No. 11 Florida, No. 13 Tulane, and No. 19Furman.
State enters postseason with seven top-10 finishes and a victory at theWildcat Invitational in Lexington, Ky. earlier this season. The LadyBulldogs hold a current stroke average of 305.15 which is on pace to be thebest in school history. The previous best was in the 1999-2000 season whenthe Lady Bulldogs finished with a 306.40 stroke average.
This year's regional berth for Mississippi State marks the fourth time inthe last six years. The Lady Bulldogs best finish in the postseason came in2003 when State finished 12th in the East Regionals held in Clemmons, N.C.
Mississippi State will tee off Thursday morning at 6:30 a.m CT with NorthCarolina State and South Carolina. Live scoring of the 2005 NCAA EastRegional can be found at www.golfstat.com.