Indiana University Athletics
Women's Golf Plays Host to NCAA Central Regional
5/3/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
May 3, 2010
Indiana at NCAA Central Regional - Tournament Notes 
| Live Results
Columbus Area Visitors Center | Otter Creek Golf Course
NCAA CENTRAL REGIONAL
May 6-8, 2010
Otter Creek Golf Course - Columbus, Ind.
Tournament Field: Indiana, Arizona State, USC, Purdue, Michigan State, Georgia, Denver, New Mexico, Florida State, Oklahoma State, Louisville, Oregon, Kent State, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Mississippi, San Diego State, Baylor, Tulsa, NC State, Illinois State, Murray State, Detroit, Jackson State, Ashley Bauer (I-Michigan), Olivia Lansing (I-Drake), Julia Potter (I-Missouri)
Course Information: Otter Creek Golf Course • Par 72 • 6,416 Yards
Results: GolfStat.com/Live Scoring • IUHOOSIERS.com (post-match results)
SETTING THE SCENE
• Indiana will make its 19th postseason appearance and third under sixth-year head coach Clint Wallman as it was selected to the 2010 NCAA Central Regional.
• The Hoosiers will play host to the 24-team field at Otter Creek Golf Course in Columbus.
• Indiana's last regional appearance came in 2008 when the Hoosiers placed 18th at the NCAA East Regional in Athens, Ga.
• The Hoosiers finished fourth at the 2007 NCAA Central Regional to advance to the NCAA Championships.
• Indiana has just two players with regional experience in seniors Laura Nochta and Kellye Belcher.
THE LINEUP
• Senior Laura Nochta
• Senior Kellye Belcher
• Freshman Jacqueline Yanch
• Freshman Pamela Burneski
• Freshman Kate Coons
ABOUT THE NCAA CENTRAL REGIONAL
• Indiana will play host to the NCAA Central Regional, May 6-8 at Otter Creek Golf Course in Columbus.
• Otter Creek will play as a par-72, 6,146-yard course.
• The 24 teams and three individuals will play three 18-hole rounds for a total of 54 holes.
• The top eight teams and two individuals not among the advancing teams will go on to compete at the NCAA Championships, May 18-21 in Wilmington, N.C.
• Joining Indiana in the Central Regional are No. 2 Arizona State, No. 5 USC, No. 8 Purdue, No. 10 Michigan State, No. 14 Georgia, No. 17 Denver, No. 20 New Mexico, No. 23 Florida State, No. 26 Oklahoma State, No. 28 Louisville, No. 34 Oregon, No. 33 Kent State, No. 40 Northwestern, No. 42 Notre Dame, No. 48 Mississippi, No. 46 San Diego State, No. 52 Baylor, No. 53 Tulsa, No. 55 NC State, No. 85 Illinois State, No. 136 Murray State, No. 204 Detroit and No. 215 Jackson State. Rankings are according to GolfStat.
• The three individuals also named to the Central Regional field are Ashley Bauer of Michigan, Olivia Lansing of Drake, and Julia Potter of Missouri.
HEAD COACH Clint Wallman ON THE HOOSIERS...
On the play of senior Laura Nochta
"She has been our senior captain and is All-Big Ten twice now. She just seems to be in every tournament. Her strength is her balance. She does everything really well. There is not a weak link in her game. Through her time here she has elevated the quality of her shots and the quality of her game. Throughout the spring there have been times in tournaments where she has not hit it well at all, but has somehow found a way to get it around the green and get it up and in. She also seems to post really good rounds at the end of tournaments. I think that is the mark of a really great player."
On the play of senior Kellye Belcher...
"Kellye has been an absolute rock throughout her career here. Last week at Big Tens she was solid through the first three rounds. Because of her ball-striking ability she is always in every tournament. She doesn't shoot bad rounds because she hits it so well. She putts it well; she chips it well. I really think when we head to Otter Creek and regionals, that is a course she is very comfortable with. She is capable of throwing in a lot of birdies when she gets going and I look for her to have a good event."
On the play of freshman Jacqueline Yanch...
"Jackie is a big-time player. She has so much skill and talent. Her strength is length off the tee and her overall ball-striking ability. She has come a long way with her wedge game and putting. That was probably the weak link when she got to school here and she has dedicated a tremendous amount of time to addressing those issues. I think we saw the fruits of that labor at the Big Ten Championships. She finishes in the top-15 at her first Big Ten Championship and legitimately, had she been stronger around the greens in the third and fourth rounds, would have been within the top-10, if not top five."
On the play of freshman Pamela Burneski...
"Heart of a champion here. Pam playing with an injury where she could not feel her leg, posts the best scores of the weekend on the team with two 75s. Two 75s with an injury and the bad weather conditions was just ridiculously good. When you talk about Pam, you talk about a player who has a lot of heart and who knows how to play. She is mature beyond her years in the way she approaches the game. She is very thorough in the study of the greens and what she tried to do. She is a real joy to coach and have on the team."
On the play of freshman Kate Coons...
"Kate has grown and matured and demonstrated the ability to have a big-time game. She hits the ball really long for women's golf and her ball-striking ability is a huge factor. It is such a huge plus, especially when you are going into a regional where they are going to play the golf course longer. She is tenacious as a competitor. She has learned over the course of the year to use those fighter instincts to her advantage. The weak link in her game has been the short game, but she has put in a ton of work. She is much more polished as a player, at ease with herself and confident."
On the importance of qualifying for the Regional...
"I think it really sends a message that we are a program again on the rise. Just like any program sometimes things flatten out a bit. Now again I feel really strongly that we are ready to make that next leap up into the top 20 programs. We have such a good base with our freshmen. We have two juniors that play really well in Lauren Giesecke and Cecilia Orevik. We have brilliant freshmen coming in, and the roster looks very strong. Making regionals, I don't want it to be an accident. It needs to be the habit. This is what we expect. We should be in postseason with the level of talent we have. I think this was almost a harder year to make it to postseason than the first year that we made it (in 2007). After having a year off, and hosting the event this year, there was a lot more pressure on the team to make it. Once we got back from spring break, they really put it in gear."
On the home course advantage at Otter Creek...
"That does not come around very often. We play Otter Creek quite a bit, and we qualify there every chance we get. There is going to be a familiarity with the golf course in terms of the breaks and how the greens hold, and just a general overall look. I think we got a break playing at University Ridge (for Big Tens) because it is a Robert Trent Jones golf course, so it is very similar look to what we will be playing here. The course is going to play a little bit longer on some of the holes and the rough is going to be a little bit higher. As I have been telling the team, you have been playing this course all year, and for some of them four years. It is no different that playing the IU course from a familiarity standpoint.
On the Central Regional field...
"Looking at this field, I think this is by far the strongest region. You have nine conference champions in this field, five of them are top-notch. Outside of that you have Arizona State, USC, Michigan State and Georgia, who aren't conference champions. We have a lot of teams ranked inside the top-15, so it is a very competitive field and a very deep field. It is going to be a lot of fun to tee it up and go head-to-head."
On the team's excitement earning a Regional bid...
"Excitement was the second part of that. I think relief was the first part of it. On the conference call we were waiting and waiting and we didn't hear anything for awhile, and then they popped out our name. And there was a collective sigh of relief. And then there was excitement. You play all year to give yourself a chance to go to postseason. They are excited because this is an opportunity to take the next step, which is ultimately to compete for the national championship. We are one of 72 teams to have that opportunity. Any time you are in postseason you are generally excited. The second part of that is it is now a three-round season. Given how we have been playing, our familiarity with the golf course, and the level of confidence that the teams has, I feel very confident that we are going to be out there and be competitive on the golf course. We are very capable of shooting very good numbers on this course. We have done it in qualifying. We have had a good ending to our spring season. I think they will be at ease and ready to go to work."
BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIPS RECAP
• The Indiana women's golf team finished fifth at the 2010 Big Ten Championships held at University Ridge Golf Course in Madison, Wis., April 23-25.
• The Hoosiers finished with a four-round score of 1,205, which is the second-lowest Big Ten Championships score in school history.
• Individually, senior Laura Nochta recorded her best-ever individual finish with a tie for seventh, recording rounds of 72-73-75-76 (296).
• Freshman Jacqueline Yanch placed tied for 14th in her first championship appearance, with rounds of 76-71-73-80 (300). Her -1 score of 71 was the only under-par round by a Hoosier at the tournament.
• Despite playing with an injury, freshman Pamela Burneski had the lowest rounds of the weekend for IU with a pair of 75s to finish tied for 32nd at 308 (80-78-75-75). Burneski was also named the team's Big Ten Sportsmanship Award winner.
• Freshman Kate Coons tied for 41st at her first Big Tens, posting numbers of 79-75-77-81 (312).
• Junior Lauren Giesecke posted her best finish of the season, coming in tied for 44th with rounds of 80-81-76-77 (314).
• Senior Kelly Belcher started the tournament strong and finished 47th with a score of 316 (77-76-75-88).
• The Hoosiers have finished fifth or better at the Big Ten Championships in three of head coach Clint Wallman's six seasons at Indiana.
DID YOU KNOW?
• Senior Laura Nochta has been the top IU finisher in 10 of 12 events this year.
• Her top finish came at her final home course event of her career, taking second at the IU Invitational, April 10-11.
• She finished tied for seventh at the Branch Law Firm/Dick McGuire Invitational. She also tied for seventh at the Mountain View Invitational.
• Nochta also finished tied for seventh at the 2010 Big Ten Championships, her best-ever Big Ten finish.
• Nochta shot her low rounds of the year, 69, at the Mountain View Invitational and the IU Invitational.
• Her low score of the year came at the Challenge at Onion Creek where she shot a 214 (73-70-71) to placed tied for 15th.
• The IU Invitational victory was the third team victory under head coach Clint Wallman, and the first since the 2007-08 season. It was also the first IU Invitational victory for the Hoosiers since the 1999-2000 season.
• Freshmen Jacqueline Yanch (67) and Kate Coons (69) have both shot rounds in the 60s this year, their first at IU. Yanch's 67 at the Challenge at Onion Creek is the lowest round by a Hoosier this season.
NOCHTA EARNS ALL-BIG TEN HONORS
• For the second year in a row, senior Laura Nochta was named to the All-Big Ten second team, as announced at the conclusion of the 2010 Big Ten Championships April 25.
• Nochta posted her best Big Ten finish with a tie for seventh, carding rounds of 72-73-75-76.
• She enters the postseason with a 74.20 stroke average, tallying 2,597 strokes over 35 rounds.
• Her season-low round of 69 came at the Branch Law Firm/Dick McGuire Invitational.
• She has six top-10 finishes and 10 top-25 finishes this season.
Players Mentioned
