May 18, 2009
ORLANDO, Fla. -
Senior Stephanie Connelly (Pasadena, Md.) takes to a very familiar course on Tuesday for the opening round of the NCAA Championships at Caves Valley Golf Club in Owings Mills, Md.
The senior qualified for nationals for the first time in her career after placing second overall in the NCAA East Regional held May 7-9 in Gainesville, Fla. Connelly's 210 (73-69-68) on the par-70 Mark Bostick Golf Course was the lowest of her UCF career for 54 holes while her final-round 68 was also a career low.
Unlike regular season events which typically are 54 holes in length, the NCAA Championship is a full 72-hole event with 24 teams and six individual qualifiers playing four rounds from Tuesday through Friday.
Connelly tees off at 8:00 a.m. on Tuesday from the first tee and 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday from the 10th tee. She will tee off on Thursday at 8:20 a.m. and Friday at noon with the tee location based on her placement in the field through the previous day's round.
Connelly will be paired for the first two days with Kendall Dye of Oklahoma and Alice Kim of UC-Davis, the top individual qualifiers from their respective NCAA Regionals. The second two days could see her matched up with either of those two plus Cindy LaCrosse of Louisville, Marina Alex of Vanderbilt or Cathryn Bristow of Oregon depending on the results of the previous rounds.
The par-72, 6,443-yard track is the longest that Connelly has played this year for UCF. It is also a familiar one for her, just a half-hour's drive from her home. Connelly, a three-time Maryland state champion played at Caves Valley many times during her high school and junior career.
"Of course I feel great having a second place finish at regionals," Connelly said recently as part of a UCFAthletics.com Q&A session. "It's my best placing in college. I want to keep doing what I'm doing. I want to get pars or better and have fun. (Caves Valley) is a great golf course. It will be nice. I'll have my family and friends out there watching me. I want to just soak it in. I've never been to nationals. There isn't any extra pressure on me because the focus is more on the teams there. I'm going to have a good time and hopefully play well."
For the latest news on the Knights, log on to UCFAthletics.com - the official site for UCF varsity sports. The site, which also contains ticket and Golden Knights Club donor information, is also the home of UCF's new online apparel store. Also visit UCFPhotos.com, the exclusive fan source for UCF action sports pictures.