Sooners Ready to Host NCAA Central Regional

May 8, 2013

NORMAN, Okla. -- The fourth-ranked University of Oklahoma women's golf team will compete as the No. 2 seed in the 24-team 2013 NCAA Central Regional this Thursday through Saturday (May 9-11) on its own 6,298-yard, par-72 Jimmie Austin OU Golf Club course.

The three-day, 54-hole tournament will begin each day with tee times starting at 7:30 a.m. CT. The Sooners are paired with third-ranked Duke and 12th-ranked Florida for each of the first two rounds. Those three squads will tee off Thursday beginning at 8:36 a.m. CT on hole No. 1. The same group will tee off in Friday's second round beginning at 12:36 on hole No. 10. Saturday's final round tee times and pairings will be determined by score.

The tournament is open to the public and admission is free.

NCAA Central Regional Information | OU Tournament Notes

TOURNAMENT FIELD (Golfweek/Sagarin rankings)
1. Duke (3)
2. Oklahoma (4)
3. Florida (12)
4. Washington (10)
5. Arizona State (13)
6. UC Davis (25)
7. Texas Tech (24)
8. North Carolina State (20)
9. Michigan State (26)
10. Iowa State (22)
11. SMU (36)
12. Campbell (35)
13. Coastal Carolina (42)
14. Wake Forest (37)
15. TCU (45)
16. Gonzaga (46)
17. Indiana (57)
18. UTSA (51)
19. Mississippi State (55)
20. Wisconsin (58)
21. Lamar (87)
22. Illinois State (135)
23. Detroit (170)
24. Butler (179)

Individuals:
1. Fanny Cnops, UNC-Greensboro
2. Lori Beth Adams, UNC-Wilmington
3. Emma Henrikson, San Diego State
4. Julia Roth, Central Arkansas
5. Paige Spiranac, San Diego State
6. Christine Wong, San Diego State

SCHEDULE
Thursday, May 9: tee times begin at 7:30 a.m. CT
Friday, May 10: tee times begin at 7:30 a.m. CT
Saturday, May 11: tee times begin at 7:30 a.m. CT

First Round Pairings and Tee Times

WEATHER FORECAST
High temperatures are projected to be in the 70s all three days. A chance of storms exists for Thursday and Friday.

HOW TO ADVANCE
The low eight teams and the low two individuals not on advancing teams from each of three regionals will advance to the NCAA Championships finals, to be held May 21-24 at the University of Georgia Golf Course in Athens, Ga. The Central Regional is headlined by top-seed and No.3-ranked Duke. No. 1 USC and No.2 Alabama earned No. 1 seeds in the West and East Regionals, respectively.

The East Regional will be played at the Auburn University Club in Auburn, Ala. while the West Regional will take place at the Stanford Golf Course in Stanford, Calif.

STAYING UPDATED
Live scoring for the NCAA Central Regional will be available at www.Golfstat.com. Follow the Sooners on Twitter at @OU_WomensGolf for updates throughout the tournament.

SOONER LINEUP
OU's lineup will feature juniors Anne-Catherine Tanguay, Chirapat Jao-Javanil, Kaitlyn Rohrback and Emily Collins, and senior Taylor Schmidt.

Oklahoma is led by Tanguay in the No. 1 slot. She is ranked No. 26 nationally by Golfweek and has finished in the top 20 in all nine of OU's events this season. A first-team All-Big 12 selection, her 73.04 season stroke average is the second best in OU history. Tanguay is coming off a third-place finish at the Big 12 Championship.

Jao-Javanil will play in the No.2 position for the Sooners. The defending NCAA champion is No. 8 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings and was named to the All-Big 12 team for the third consecutive year. The Hua-Hin, Thailand, product has recorded eight top-20 finishes in nine events this year, six of them in the top 10. She posted wins at the Susie Maxwell Berning Classic in the fall and at the SunTrust Gator Invitational this spring. Jao-Javanil owns a team-low 72.26 stroke average, the best in school history.

Rohrback will compete in OU's No.3 slot. The Tennessee transfer has posted a pair of top-20 finishes in her seven events this year, including a tie for third place at the Alamo Invitational in October when she shot a career-best 4-under 212. Rohrback is a member of the Academic All-Big 12 First Team.

Playing in the No. 4 slot this week, Collins has placed in the top 20 in six of nine tournaments this season and has posted four top-10 showings. She is ranked 60th nationally. Collins, who has 10 career top-20 finishes, tied for third place at the Clover Cup in March and owns the sixth-best single-season stroke average in school history (74.15). She was named to the All-Big 12 Team and to the Academic All-Big 12 First Team.

Schmidt is competing in the No.5 position this week. She has collected four top-20 finishes this season and owns 12 top-20 career finishes in her four years at OU. A two-time Academic-All Big 12 First Team member, Schmidt tied for third place at the Alamo Invitational in October.

DROUIN-LUTTRELL DIRECTS REMARKABLE TURNAROUND
Veronique Drouin-Luttrell has certainly proven herself in just her fourth season as OU's head coach. After taking over a program that finished in 10th place or worse in half of its events in 2008-09, Drouin has guided OU to top-five showings in 25 of 43 tournaments (58 percent) during her tenure, including in 22 of 31 events (71 percent) over the last three seasons. OU has won seven tournaments under her direction, six in the last two years. The top seven and nine of the top 10 54-hole totals in school history have come under Drouin-Luttrell. She has presided over the 14 lowest rounds in relation to par in OU annals.

This season, Drouin-Luttrell's Sooners have posted eight top-five finishes in nine events, including fall victories at the Susie Maxwell Berning Classic and the Alamo Invitational, and a win at the Clover Cup this spring.

BEST REGULAR SEASON IN SCHOOL HISTORY
Oklahoma's 2012-13 season has been the best in school history. In addition to their program-record-tying three victories, here is a list of more accomplishments:

• OU has posted a school-record seven top-three finishes in only nine tournaments. It has finished in the top two on six occasions.
• The Sooners entered the season 13th in the Golfweek/Sagarin rankings, and climbed to a school-record No. 2 ranking this spring.
• Oklahoma owns would-be school records for scoring average (293.19; existing record is 296.64), score in relation to par (+6.07 per round; existing record is +8.64), finish percentage (89.8%; existing record is 82.9%), par-4 scoring (4.16) and par-5 scoring (4.96). OU's eight rounds of par or better are already a program record.
• The three lowest rounds in school history were posted this year: 279 [-9] at Alamo Invitational; 280 [-8] at Susie Maxwell Berning Classic; 281 [-7] at Clover Cup.
• The three lowest 54-hole scores in school history were registered this season: 848 [-16] at Alamo Invitational; 859 [-5] at Susie Maxwell Berning Classic; 862 [-2] at Clover Cup. OU won all three tournaments.

SOONERS IN THE INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS
Three Sooners are ranked in the top 60 nationally by Golfweek/Sagarin, and five are in the top 200. Leading the way are a quartet of juniors. Chirapat Jao-Javanil is ranked No. 9 and is followed by Anne-Catherine Tanguay (28th), Emily Collins (60th) and Kaitlyn Rohrback (107th). Senior Taylor Schmidt is ranked No. 198.

JAO-JAVANIL AND TANGUAY 1-2 IN OU CAREER SCORING AVERAGE
Juniors Chirapat Jao-Javanil and Anne-Catherine Tanguay rank first and second in school history in career scoring average. Jao-Javanil, who is No. 8 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings, owns a school-record 73.19 (+1.35) average, while Tanguay sports a 74.40 average (+2.66). Each has played in all 31 team events since arriving at OU. Similarly, Jao-Javanil's 72.26 (+0.48) average this season is a would-be school record, while Tanguay's 73.04 (+1.26) stands as the second best season average in school history.

OU LEADS BIG 12 WITH THREE ALL-CONFERENCE PICKS
Ten golfers were named to the 2013 All-Big 12 Team, and three of them were Sooners. Emily Collins, Chirapat Jao-Javanil and Anne-Catherine Tanguay all made the squad. It was the third such honor for Jao-Javanil and first for Collins and Tanguay.

LAST YEAR IN NCAA POSTSEASON PLAY
Last season the Sooners advanced to the NCAA Championships for the first time since 2002 by finishing in eighth place at the 24-team NCAA West Regional in Erie, Colo. Chirapat Jao-Javanil was the team's top finisher, tying for fifth place. OU then finished in a school-record-tying sixth place at the NCAA Championships in Franklin, Tenn., as Jao-Javanil became the program's first national champion in women's golf. She won by four strokes.

UP NEXT
The Sooners look to secure a trip to the 2013 NCAA Championships finals held May 21-24 at the University of Georgia Golf Course in Athens, Ga. It would be OU's second straight appearance.