May 7, 2012

Complete Release in PDF Format

BERKELEY BERKELEY, Calif. - The No. 9 California Golden Bear women's golf team will be the No. 5 seed at the NCAA West Regional, being held at the Colorado National Golf Course in Erie, Colo. The tournament will be held over three days, Thursday, May 10 through Saturday, May 12, with the field of 24 teams and six individuals playing 54 holes on the par 72, 6,575-yard course.

The top eight teams and two individuals advance to the NCAA Championships, which will be held May 22-25 at the Vanderbilt Legends Club in Franklin, Tenn.

This is the Bears 13th consecutive NCAA Regional appearance. Cal has made the NCAA post season every year since 2000. The Bears are looking for their eight NCAA Championship appearance and second in a row.

Last year, the Bears advanced to the NCAA Championships after finishing fifth at the East Regional at the LPGA International Legends Course in Daytona Beach, Florida. The Bears advanced after shooting an 878 (+14). Four of the player in the Bears current lineup competed at the 2011 Championship.

The Golden Bears earned the Pac-12's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament after winning the Pac-12 Championship in Pullman, Wash. The Bears were tied with USC coming down to the final two golfers on the 18th hole. Senior Joanne Lee made a six-foot uphill putt to birdie the 18th hole. Senior Daniela Holmqvist drained a par-putt minutes later to seal the Bears second conference championship.

The Golden Bears are led by a trio of seniors who all transferred to Cal as sophomores. Senior Joanne Lee spent one season at USC, earning an honorable mention for the All-Pac-10 team in her freshman season. Since arriving at Cal, Lee has earned three consecutive All-Conference second team honors. She was an honorable mention NGCA All-America in 2010 before earning second team honors last season. Lee holds multiple Cal records including the lowest single-season scoring average in program history (72.94 in 2010-11) and the lowest single-round score (65 in the opening round of the SEC/Pac-10 Challenge at Stanford Golf Course in the fall of 2010). She comes into the post-season with the lowest career scoring average (73.38) of any player in program history.

Senior Daniela Holmqvist began her collegiate career in New Orleans, playing for the Tulane Green Wave. As a Tulane freshman, she was the individual medalist at the Conference USA Tournament as well as helping the Green wave win the team title and advance from the NCAA Regional to the NCAA Championships. Since coming to Cal as a sophomore, Holmqvist has earned second team All-Pac-10 academic honors last season and was named to the All-Pac-12 second team this year. Holmqvist, who was the individual medalist at the Auenue Spring Break Classic in Maui in March, became the first Cal golfer to earn the Pac-12 Golfer of the Month honor. She has not finished outside the top five in a tournament this spring and has a 72.3 stroke average over that same span.

Senior Emily Childs is the winningest golfer in the history of the program. Childs has more medalist honors (4) than any other golfer in the history of the program. Childs is also the only player in program history to win three tournaments in a single season (2010-11) and the only player in program history to win back-to-back tournaments (also in 2010-11). She has been named to the All-Conference second team each of the last two seasons and was also an All-Academic second team pick by the Pac-10 last season. She began her career at Colorado, earning All-Big 12 First Team honors in her freshman year with the Buffs.

Rounding out the lineup for the Bears will be sophomore Nicola Roessler and junior Jacqueline Williams. Roessler has been a fixture in the Cal lineup for the last two seasons. Williams played her way into the post-season after shooting her first career below-par round in the opening round of the Pacific Intercollegiate at Half Moon Bay, carding a 68. Williams and Roessler each came up big in the Bears Pac-12 Championship win, with Williams shooting a one-under 71 in the second round and Roessler coming up with a pair of back-nine birdies in the final round to go one-under.

Cal's best finish at an NCAA Regional came in 2003 when the team won the Central Regional, held Firehorn Golf Club in Lincoln, Neb., by 20 shots. The Bears have had one individual win medalist honors at the Regional with Sophia Sheridan winning by five shots in Las Cruces, N.M.

Live scoring of the NCAA Regionals will be available on Golfstat.com.