Wake Forest Athletics
Demon Deacons Roll Into Baton Rouge This Weekend
3/11/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
March 11, 2009
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Coming off a second place finish in a strong field at the Northrop Grumman last month, the No. 7 Wake Forest women's golf team has confidence heading into this weekend's LSU/Cleveland Golf Classic in Baton Rouge, La.
The Demon Deacons are riding one of their best streaks in quite awhile as they won their last two tournaments of the fall and took second at the Northrop Grumman. But to continue that success this weekend, the Deacs will have to tame a very tough field of teams.
Sixteen out of the 18 teams this weekend are ranked in the top-50 of the latest Golfweek rankings. Wake is the second-highest ranked team behind No. 4 Virginia. The top-two ranked ACC teams have only meet in two prior tournaments this season with the Cavaliers besting Wake at the Fall Preview in September and the Deacs returning the favor at the Lady Tar Heel one month later.
Host LSU is ranked 11th followed by ACC-foe North Carolina at No. 15, Louisville at No. 19 and Arkansas at No. 22.
"We are anxious to get going this weekend and I know the students are looking forward to playing in competition again," said Wake Forest head coach Dianne Dailey. "We played well in California and that only made the students work harder in practice to keep that momentum. This is another really good field and it will be good to see a lot of teams we haven't seen since the fall."
Senior Nannette Hill will once again play in the No. 1 spot for the Deacs. She was named ACC Women's Golf Player of the Month for February after finishing tied for 4th at the Northrop Grumman. She carded rounds of 76-74-75 in less than ideal conditions to help Wake overtake top-ranked UCLA and second-ranked Southern Cal for second place.
Hill is averaging 74.9 strokes over her 15 tournament rounds and is second on the team with 85 percent of her rounds counting towards the team score. This will be her third trip to the LSU/Cleveland Golf Classic with her best finish of T22 coming last spring following a final round 70.
Hill will be followed by freshman Cheyenne Woods. After a bit of a slow start, Woods seems to have found her stride, posting her second-straight top-10 finish last month at the Northrop Grumman. She is averaging 75.9 strokes per round with 12.5 of her 15 rounds counting towards the team score.
Sophomore Natalie Sheary will fill the No. 3 spot this weekend. She has been one of Wake's most consistent players over her first season and a half on campus. She has yet to miss a tournament, playing in all 17 events and is averaging 74.4 strokes per round.
Sheary is just below her career-average this season at 74.2 and has posted three-straight top-20 finishes including a win at the Lady Tar Heel, a tie for fourth at the Landfall Tradition and tie for 20th last month in California.
Junior Dolores White holds down the No. 4 spot for the Deacs as she has averaged 76.8 strokes through her four tournaments this year. She claimed her first collegiate medalist honors last fall at the Landfall and rebounded after a pair of tough opening rounds at the Northrop Grumman to lead the Wake charge on the final day, firing a team-low 73.
Rounding out the Deacon Five this weekend will be senior Jean Chua. Chua is making her first start this spring after closing the fall strong with a win at the Lady Tar Heel and a third place finish at the Landfall. Chua currently tops the team with a 74.3 stroke-average through 12 tournament rounds.
"Jean is obviously one of our top players and we wanted to get her going this week and get her back into competition," said Dailey. "She hasn't played since the fall but she has worked hard in practice to prepare herself and I think she is going to have a good week."
The tournament is being held at the University Club in Baton Rouge. Its par 72, 6,424 yard-layout should prove challenging once again. Wake finished third in 2008 and seventh in 2007 in its previous two appearances.
Action will get underway both Friday and Saturday starting with tee-times ranging from 8 a.m. CT, to 10 a.m. CT. There will be a shotgun start at 8:30 a.m. CT, for the final round on Sunday. Golfstat will have live scoring for all three rounds at www.golfstat.com.
Players Mentioned
