BIG EAST Adds Women's Golf
July 30, 2002
Providence, RI (hurricanesports.com) – Commissioner Michael Tranghese announced today that The BIG EAST Conference will add women’s golf as its 23rd sport. The inaugural championship will be held in the spring of 2003. Approval for the addition was made by the league’s 14 Directors of Athletics.
“Women’s golf is one of the fastest growing sports in the NCAA,” Tranghese said. “We are excited about providing our quality programs the chance to compete at the highest level.”
Miami will be one of six teams participating this season in addition to Boston College, Georgetown, Notre Dame, Rutgers and St. John’s. Four teams will be selected by the BIG EAST Women’s Golf Selection & Seeding Committee to compete in a 54-hole, stroke play championship. The committee will use criteria such as head-to-head results, stroke differential, overall won-loss record, strength of schedule, results vs. common opponents and NCAA/Golfstat rating indexes to select the four participating teams.
The women’s championship will be held in conjunction with the BIG EAST men’s golf championship. The 2003 events are scheduled for April 19-20 at Notre Dame’s Warren Golf Course in South Bend, Ind. The women’s team champion will be eligible to apply for an automatic bid to the NCAA Championship beginning with the 2005 season.
Women’s golf will be the BIG EAST’s 13th women’s sport, while The Conference conducts 10 men’s sports.
“This is very exciting,” said Miami head women’s golf coach Lela Cannon. “The opportunity to compete for a conference championship is a goal every player and coach should have. And the automatic bid in 2005 will allow BIG EAST schools to compete on equal ground with those from other conferences.”
Miami, which in the past has competed as an independent, has reached the NCAA Championships 18 times since the NCAA began sponsoring the national tournament in 1982. In 1984 the Hurricanes won their first NCAA title and fifth national title overall. Prior to NCAA sponsorship, Miami won AIAW National Championships in 1970, 1972, 1977 and 1978.
