Women's golf improves on record day, finishes third

Beavers record best outing in school history, also finish with top single-round team score of tournament

By: The Daily Barometer

Posted: 4/9/07

STANFORD, Calif. - The Oregon State women's golf team improved on its first-round score by 18 shots and jumped three spots from yesterday's sixth-place standing to finish the Peg Barnard California Collegiate in third place with a two-round total of 586 (302-284).

The Beavers scored a school record for team low single-round with an even-par 284 for the day on the par-71 6,037-yard Stanford golf course.

OSU's 284 was the lowest round score registered by any team in either day of the Stanford-hosted tournament.

Martha Burkard finished in a tie for fourth place and led the Beavers with a personal low round score of 3-under-par 68, which was six shots better than her first-round score of 74. The single-round score of 68 ties the school record for lowest individual round and the 3-under par is just one shot off the all-time lowest score of 4-under-par in Oregon State history.

"Martha really gave herself a lot of chances today," said head coach Rise Lakowske. "She hung in there all day and finished well. She hit her approach shots within 15 feet at least nine times today. Even when she was missing, she was still hitting the greens. There were even a few solid putts that she had lip out that would have made her score even lower. She hit a lot of fairways, hit a lot of greens and made a lot of putts. That is the name of the game, and it paid off for her."

Jessi Gebhardt also finished in the top ten in a tie for ninth place as she shot her second 1-over-par 72 for the tournament. The ninth place finish marks Gebhardt's third top 10 finish this season and is her third top 10 in the last four tournaments, placing her in a tie at eight all-time for single-season top 10 finishes at OSU.

"Jessi put together another solid round today. She had five birdies today and finished at 72, so she could have had an even better score than what she put up, but all around she played pretty solid," Lakowske said.

Jillian Ferrante improved her first-round score by an outstanding eight shots to finish in a tie for 13th place after posting a second round score 1-under-par 70, which ties her single-round personal best.

"Jill really came out and played well after having the asthma attack and trip to the hospital yesterday. She really showed some determination today to play well," Lakowske said.

Winning the team honors was tournament host Stanford, who edged out Denver by registering a 4-over-par 572 (287-285). Kay Hoey of Long Beach State won the individual title by shooting a 8-under-par 134 (65-69).

Oregon State, with its third place finish, defeated seven higher-ranked teams, which should help for a bid to regional competition.

The teams included No. 28 San Jose State, No. 35 San Francisco, No. 42 Hawaii, No. 46 and conference opponent Washington State, No. 54 UC Davis, No. 62 Fresno State and No. 65 Long Beach State.

"They have been doing a lot of work on their mental game and their short game," Lakowske said. "They knew what they were capable of, and today it showed. It was a great performance today. It's very exciting to see them play well. I'm really proud of the team. We just have to go from here now and see what happens."

"The last couple of weeks ought to grab some attention of the Regionals committee. It's still up in the air, but if we perform at conferences like we did today, there is a good chance we grab a spot at Regionals."

Oregon State heads next to the Pac-10 Championships on April 23rd.