North Carolina State University Athletics
Wolfpack Announced to NCAA Tournament Field
4/28/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
April 28, 2003
RALEIGH, N.C. - NC State was announced as one of 63 teams invited to participate in the 2003 NCAA Women's Golf Championship on Monday. NC State is making its second consecutive appearance in the tournament, under the direction of head coach Page Marsh. The team, which is currently ranked No. 44 by Golfstat and No. 39 by Golfweek, received an at-large bid to the tournament. NC State enters the championship as a 15-seed in the East Regional, to be held at the Salem Glen Golf Course in Clemmons, N.C.
"Of course we are excited to be invited back to the tournament," says Marsh. "We improved upon our seeding from 2002, and played a schedule that is ranked as the 25th toughest in the nation this year. We consistently play with the best, and are making steps to be the best."
Three regional tournaments will be conducted May 8-10 to determine the championships field. Regional tournaments are considered preliminary rounds of NCAA championships competition, and all national championships policies will apply.
A total of 324 participants have been selected for the regional competition. Of these players, 126 will advance to the championships finals May 20-23. Eight teams and two individuals will advance from each region.
"Our team really rose to the occasion at the ACC Tournament and played along side three teams that are currently ranked in the top 20, no doubt that helped our team's tournament resume," Marsh continued. "We are building a program here at NC State that is consistent, and is rapidly gaining national respect. Our goal this year is to make the trip to Purdue and be one of the 24 teams that will compete for the championship in late May."
The championships finals will be held at Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex, West Lafayette, Indiana, hosted by the Purdue University.
The Wolfpack is in a field that includes eight-time ACC Champion and consensus No. 1 Duke, as well as seven other automatic-qualifiers and conference championship winners. Fellow ACC sister school participants Wake Forest (5), UNC (9), and Florida State (10) also don the field. Other North Carolina schools invited to the tournament include UNC-Wilmington (14) and Western Carolina (19).
NC State is a young program that is making giant strides towards the top. In only its third year of reinstatement, following a 15-year hiatus, the team is returning to the Regional after a 14th place performance at Salem Glen in 2002.
