April 13, 2008
Orlando, Fla. (www.ucfathletics.com) - The UCF women's golf team traveled to El Paso, Texas on Saturday to begin preparations for the 2008 Texas Roadhouse Conference USA Championship that will be played at the Butterfield Trail Golf Club. The Knights participated in a practice round on Sunday as the team got its first look at the par 72, 6,236-yard lay out in West Texas.
"This course is set up really well to the strengths of our team," head coach Emilee Klein said. "The par 4's are longer, which will help us and the par 5's are a little shorter, so we should be able to take advantage of those with our length of the tee."
The 54-hole tournament begins on Monday as UCF is looking to improve on its last two appearances at the C-USA Championship when the team tied for third under the direction of Klein. The Knights, who were tied for 28th in the latest Golf World/NCGA Coaches' Poll, will be going up against a nine-team field in the championship that is scheduled for April 14-16.
Tulsa is the highest-ranked C-USA team in the Golfstat/Sagarin Performan Index, entering the tournament in 30th position. East Carolina is 36th, while the Knights were 41st in the late index.
"We are really excited that the championship is finally here," Klein said. "We are playing well right now. Our mindset is we are going to win this and I know we are prepared to do that."
The UCF line-up will feature two veterans with experience at the C-USA Championship along with a trio of first-time participants in the league event. Juniors Stephanie Connelly (Pasadena, Md.) and May Tomimbang (Kissimmee, Fla.) helped lead the Knights to a three-way tie for third a year ago, finishing 10 strokes behind eventual champion Memphis.
Connelly had the highest placing of her sophomore campaign at the league championship in 2007, taking fourth with a season-best score of 224 (+8). Tomimbang tied for 39th at the event as the pair of UCF juniors will be joined by sophomore Leigh Crosby (Athens, Ga.) and freshmen Jessy Tang (Miami, Fla.) and Katie Detlefsen (Eagan, Minn.) as the Knights make a run at their first C-USA Championship title in women's golf.
Tomimbang, who will play in the No. 1 spot, leads UCF and ranks fifth among C-USA golfers entering the Championship with a 75.39 stroke average in six events this season. She is joined in the top 10 rankings with Connelly, who is seventh with a 75.70. Connelly will second in the Knights' line-up.
Tang and Crosby also rank inside the top 15, while Detlefsen has worked her way back into the line-up with better play over the last month of the season. Tang will play third, Crosby fourth and Detlefsen will be fifth.
Live scoring is available at www.golfstat.com.
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