Canes Head to Greensboro for ACC Women's Golf Championship
April 14, 2011
Offical ACC Championship Website
CORAL GABLES, Fla. -The University of Miami is set to compete in the Atlantic Coast Conference Women’s Golf Championship at Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, N.C. this weekend. The three-round tournament will begin Friday morning and last until a champion is crowned on Sunday afternoon.
Miami will play in groups with Boston College and NC State on Friday starting at 8:30 a.m.
The ACC will feature free live streaming on Saturday and Sunday, starting at 1:30 p.m. each day and continuing through the conclusion of play. Click here to view the live stream.
Live scoring is also available through the ACC and GolfStat for the most up to the minute scores from the course, by clicking here.
This will be Patti Rizzo’s first ACC Championship as the head coach of Miami. However, Rizzo is no stranger to major tournaments, as she was an All-American selection in 1981, finishing second overall at the 1981 AIAW National Golf Championships.
Coach Rizzo believes this tournament will be a tough challenge for the team, but they need contributions from everyone.
“Our goal this weekend is to break 300 each round to post a respectable score. In order to do that, we need a balanced effort,” she said.
Leading this year’s team is senior Maria Ronderos with a 73.64 stroke average this spring. Her low round of the year was a 67 at the Eagle Landing Invitational in Jacksonville last month. With a strong performance in Greensboro, Ronderos has a shot to qualify as an at-large selection to the NCAA Regional Tournament. The last Cane to qualify for NCAA Regionals was Tina Miller in 2003.
Last year, Ronderos shot a 246 at the ACC Championship, good for 39th place. As a junior, she placed in 24th after shooting a 234. Her freshman year, Ronderos shot a 234 to finish in 33rd when the event was at the Legends Golf Course of LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Fla.
Fellow senior Christina Hirano also brings ACC experience to the table. She finished in 35th last year, shooting a 241. She missed the tournament as a junior, but placed in a tie for 15th as a freshman (224) in 2008.
Hirano and Ronderos are the only two Miami players to have played in every event this year. Hirano’s stroke average of 76.21 this spring is the second-best on the team. Her best finish was a tie for seventh at the JU Classic in February and her low round was a 73 at the Eagle Landing Invitational.
Junior Patricia Arana will be playing in her first ACC Championship. She transferred from Kennesaw State, and has been playing with the team since the beginning of the spring season. Coach Rizzo noted that she has increased team camaraderie since she joined the team with her colorful personality. Arana has had conference success before, as she was named to the Atlantic Sun All-Freshmen team in 2009.
Arana will be blogging daily as she makes her way through her first ACC Championship. Her blog entries can be found at the women’s golf site at HurricaneSports.com.
Junior Jennifer Hirano and freshman Carina Cuculiza are also set to start this weekend, but have been battling injuries. Hirano has been fighting a wrist injury all year, while Cuculiza suffered a knee injury at the John Kirk/Panther Intercollegiate last month. Coach Rizzo reported that both are healthy enough to start on Friday.
No. 16 Wake Forest comes in as the defending champion after beating now No. 8 Virginia by four strokes in 2010 at Sedgefield. No. 5 Duke has won the tournament more times than anyone with 16 championships. North Carolina also comes in at No. 22 in the NCGA Poll, making four of the nine teams ranked in this event.
“There are some great schools in the ACC that we are going to go up against. We are going to have to bring our best,” said Coach Rizzo.
This is the third straight year the event has been held at Sedgefield Country Club. It is a par 71, measured at 6,185 yards. Click here for the official website of the course.
From the ACC:
In addition to the tournament, the ACC, on behalf of all of the women’s golf teams will donate a variety of children’s books to Millis Road Elementary School in Greensboro, N.C. as part of ACC Community Connections initiative. This year the Atlantic Coast Conference instituted an initiative known as ACC Community Connections, which pairs ACC teams and local schools to teach the importance of reading and other life lessons to the children in our championship communities. Russell Harper, Principal of Millis Road, will accept the donation of books in a brief ceremony Sunday, at the 18th green, just before the championship trophy presentation.
