Photos from Monday's Practice Round

May 17, 2004

FURMAN GOLFERS SET FOR NCAA FIRST ROUND

AUBURN, Alabama -- An ice cream social, rules meeting and second day of practice highlighted Monday for the Furman women’s golf team, the last day before the 2004 NCAA Golf Championships begin at the Grand National Golf Club’s Lake Course on Tuesday.

The 24th-ranked Lady Paladins will begin teeing off hole one Tuesday at 9:00 a.m., paired with 38th-ranked Purdue and fifth-ranked Ohio State. Tuesday’s round will mark Furman’s first NCAA Championship competition since 1999, when the Lady Paladins placed 15th at the Tulsa Country Club.

Furman earned its 15th-ever berth in the NCAA Championships with a sixth-place showing in the NCAA East Regional at the Mission Inn Resort in Howey-in-the-Hills, Fla.

As Furman competes for the National Championship, the Lady Paladins will rely heavily on Sarah Johnston, who has posted a 74.2 stroke average this season and was named Southern Conference Player of the Year. Though Johnston is a fifth-year senior, this is her first national championship and just being there is a sweet reward in and of itself.

“Everyone keeps asking me questions about the tournament,” says Johnston. “When I remind them that this is my first championship as well, they all say ‘You must be so excited,’ which I am.”

Furman will also count on SoCon Freshman of the Year Jenny Suh - the Lady Paladins top finisher at regionals who is just behind Johnston with a 74.3 stroke average. Joining Suh and Johnston in the lineup are freshman Theresa Paik, sophomore Connor Atkinson, and freshman Monique Gesualdi, making Furman one of the youngest teams in the field.

“I think this team, despite its youth, showed a lot of character and a lot of maturity at regionals,” said coach Mic Potter. “We were in a pressure situation the last day of regionals and instead of folding, we rose to the occasion and shot our best round of the tournament. That takes a lot of poise.”

While Potter and the Lady Paladins would love to make a run at the national title, as the Lady Paladins did in 1987 when they finished second in Albuquerque, N.M., Potter admits it is nice just to be playing this late in the year. “I think with the youth of this team making it through regionals is pretty impressive,” says the 23-year coaching veteran. “Of course that doesn’t mean that we aren’t here to win, but I do think a top 10 finish would be a big boost for us, and show this team that we can play with anyone.”