ECU golfers compete in conference tournament

Bools receives top player award

By: SID

Posted: 4/24/08

The ECU women's golf team carded a final round 314 this past weekend to finish in second place at the 2008 Texas Roadhouse Conference USA Women's Golf Championships. The tournament was played at the par-72, 6,294-yard Butterfield Trail Golf Club.
The University of Tulsa took home the tournament title after shooting the low round of the day, a 15-over par 3-3, to compile a 54-hole total of 904 (304-297-303) and edge out runner-up East Carolina (303-305-314=922).
Runner-up ECU was led by sophomore standout Abby Bools, who tied for fourth place (73-74-80=227). Amber Littman (tied for seventh, 75-78-77=230) and Emelie Lind (10th, 79-73-81=233) also garnered top-10 individual finishes for the Pirates.
SMU finished third (308-310-314=932), with UCF fourth (303-314-328=945), Memphis fifth (309-318-324=951), UTEP sixth (303-321-329=953), Southern Miss seventh (301-331-322=954), UAB eighth (306-321-334=961) and Marshall ninth (316-338-339=993).
Tulsa, which captured its first C-USA title, earned the league's automatic bid to NCAA Regionals. Three Golden Hurricane players landed in the top-10 of the individual standings including medalist Woori Shin, who carded a four-over-par 220 (76-71-73). Tulsa's Leisl Hasbrouck tied for second place (72-77-77=226), Michaela Cavener tied for fourth place (75-77-75=227), Tara Goedeken tied for 11th place (81-72-81=234) and Kelly Fuchik tied for 29th place (81-83-78=242).
Memphis' Alexa Porter tied for second place (73-78-75=226), SMU's Lacy Jones (74-78-77=229) took sixth place, and SMU's Paige Martin (78-79-73=230) and UAB's Jaime Brabb (72-76-82=230) tied for seventh place to round out the top-10 of the individual standings.
SMU's Martin matched Tulsa's Shin with Wednesday's low round of 73.
Host UTEP was led by Liz Sobczak, who tied for 19th place (76-79-83-238).
The All-Tournament team was Shin, Porter, Hasbrouck, Cavener and Bools.
Following the C-USA Tournament, the conference announced its annual end of the season awards, and ECU was well represented.
onference USA announced its 2007 All-Conference first, second and third teams along with postseason award winners for women's golf, as selected by the conference's head coaches.
Pirates' sophomore Abby Bools earned C-USA Player of the Year and All-Conference USA first-team recognition. Bools finished tied for fourth place at the 2008 C-USA Women's Golf Championship. ECU head coach Kevin Williams was named Coach of the Year after leading his team to wins in six of its seven tournaments and a second-place finish at the C-USA Championship.
Bools entered the C-USA Championship with a 74.67 stroke average (down from 77.96 in 2007) and captured two wins and four top-five finishes this spring. She was named C-USA Golfer of the Week two times in 2007-08 and was one of three Pirate golfers to record two medalist honors in the same season. She carded a personal-best round of 68 at the Myrtle Beach Classic earlier this year, which was the third-lowest round in school history.
Williams, who started the women's program at East Carolina in 2000, and coached the men and women at ECU before taking a club-pro job in 2006, returned this year to lead his team to wins in six of its first seven tournaments--more than any other Division I women's program. In the process, he led the Pirates to a school-record victory streak of five.
Pirate Amber Littman was named the C-USA Freshman of the Year. Littman had a stroke average of 74.39 entering the C-USA Championship and finished tied for seventh in the individual standings. Littman was a two-time C-USA Golfer of the Week selection in 2007-08. She closed out the fall season by claiming individual medalist honors at the UAB Beach Bash. The Stoney Creek, N.C. native recorded her third top three finish and fourth top 20 placement in five tournaments at the event.
Both Bools and Littman are the first Pirates to receive C-USA Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year honors on the links.
Tulsa junior Woori Shin, the 2008 C-USA Women's Golf Individual Champion, claimed the league's Newcomer of the Year honors. Shin fired one of the championships two rounds of under par golf with a 71 in round two and carded a four-over-par 220 to claim medalist honors. Her efforts helped the Golden Hurricane to the 2008 team title. Shin entered the C-USA Championship as the reigning C-USA Golfer of the Week and claimed the honor twice in 2007-08. Shin registered four top-five finishes this spring.
Seven league teams were represented on the All-Conference USA teams. UCF led all C-USA teams with four all-league selections, while East Carolina had three all-conference selections and claimed three of the four specialty awards. Tulsa also had three all-conference selections to go along with one specialty award. SMU was next with two all-league honors. Championship host UTEP, along with Memphis and Southern Miss each had one honoree.
The ECU men's golf team also wrapped up its season this past weekend, playing in the C-USA Tournament.
ECU fired a 15-over-par 879 and finished seventh at the 2008 C-USA Championship at the par 72, 6,935-yard Texarkana Country Club Tuesday. Junior Andre Thorsen was the Pirates' top finisher as he tied for sixth place with a 54-hole total of even-par 216.
Pirate sophomore Tanner Briele finished the tournament tied for 14th at three-over-par, while freshman Warren Straub finished tied for 17th at four-over-par. Junior Markus Leandersson finished the championship at 10-over, while senior Anthony Reale was 14-over.
Straub was one of four players to be named to the Conference USA All-Freshman Team.
The UAB Blazers earned their first Conference USA Men's Golf Championship after firing a five-under-par 283 team total in today's final round to move from third place after 36 holes to claim the title. Junior Zach Sucher earned medalist honors, while teammate Brad Smith tied Sucher's low round of 66 on the final 18 to spark the championship run. UAB finished with a 54-hole total of 857 (-7), led by Sucher and Smith's all-tournament performances.
Senior Kyle Sapp also came up big today with a 70 in today's final round.??Southern Miss, who entered the day tied with UAB for third place, finished second on the strength of a 70 from senior Kyle Ramey and a third-place finish from sophomore Paul Apyan, who also earned all-tournament honors.??
After leading the first two rounds, Memphis slipped to third place in the final standings, while SMU made the climb from ninth place following the first round to a fourth-place finish overall for the tournament as the Mustangs placed four individuals in the Top 20.??
Defending champion Tulsa and Houston finished fifth and sixth, respectively, with scores of 876 (+12) and 877 (+13), while ECU, UTEP, UCF, Marshall and Rice rounded out the field, respectively.
The men's team will conclude the season this weekend at the Cavalier Classic in Charlottesville, Va.