May 5, 2010
East Carolina’s Tournament Central
The Vanderbilt women’s golf team begins its quest for an NCAA Championship Thursday at the NCAA East Regional in Greenville, N.C., an event hosted by East Carolina University. The Commodores will tee off at 9:06 a.m. EST at the Ironwood, a Lee Travino-designed course, in Greenville.
Vanderbilt enters the tournament as the number five seed in the East Regional after a second place finish at the SEC Championships and an individual championship by Commodore sophomore and SEC Player of the Year Marina Alex, who leads the SEC in stroke average. Alex, one of the nation’s top collegiate golfers, averages 71.3 strokes per round, the lowest stroke average in Commodore women’s golf history.
Duke, Auburn, Wake Forest, Pepperdine, Tennessee, Florida, TCU, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tulane, UT Chattanooga, Washington, Texas Tech, Georgia State, Campbell, East Tennessee State, Furman, Coastal Carolina, College of Charleston, Stetson, Charleston Southern, Fairleigh Dickenson, and host East Carolina will join Vanderbilt at the regional.
The Ironwood, which opened in 1996 and was named one of the “Top 15 New Golf Courses in America” by Golf Digest, will be set up as a par-72, 6,321-yard layout. The course also hosted the Conference USA Championship in 2006 and was the site for a 2008 and 2009 USGA Women’s Public Links Qualifier.
“We’re excited,” said Vanderbilt head coach Greg Allen. “We’ve played really well in our last two tournaments, so we’re heading into the regional with some momentum. After seeing our team’s reaction following the SEC Championships, I think they are all really excited to play golf again.”
Participating for the Commodores is senior Brooke Goodwin, who is playing in her fourth NCAA Regional, junior Megan Grehan, who is participating in her third regional, sophomore Marina Alex, who advanced to the NCAA Championship as an individual in 2009, and freshmen Anna Leigh Keith and Lauren Stratton, who will be participating in their first NCAA Regional.