Ueno Finishes Tenth at NCAA Division III Golf Championships

HOWEY-IN-THE-HILLS, FL - Willamette University freshman Whitney Ueno shot a final round 77 to finish in tenth place at the NCAA Division III Women`s Golf Championships Friday at the Mission Inn Golf Course near Orlando.

Ueno played the first 13 holes even par, then bogeyed four of the final five holes to finish at +4. Overall, Ueno finished +30 and a four-round score of 322. After opening the tournament with a 92 and sitting in 46th place, Ueno rebounded to shoot three rounds under 80, one of the only players in the tournament to have three sub-80 rounds.

“Whitney played just great today,“ said Coach Tom Hibbard. “On the front nine, she hit almost every green in regulation and had a lot of easy two-putts for par. She got some tough breaks on the final few holes, but she played out of trouble well. Her big putt was a 12-footer for par on the 17th hole. Overall, Whitney played very, very well in her first major collegiate tournament.“

Ueno's 77 Friday was the second lowest score of the day.

Ueno again played the back nine first in the final round. She bogeyed the 13th hole (her fourth hole of the day), but rebounded with birdie on the Par-5 17th to make the turn at even par. Ueno parred the first four holes of the back nine, but struggled over the final five finishing holes.

“Whitney has such a great attitude,“ said Hibbard. “She withstood some pretty tough challenges and did it all with a smile on her face and a tremendous amount of poise. She really played great golf here over the final three rounds and I think she can be a force in the Division III women`s golf for the next three years.“

Methodist College easily won the team title as Charlotte Williams won the tournament for the second straight year with a four-round score of +16, 306. Two of her teammates – Katie Dick and Colleen Walsh – finished tied for second at +20.

Methodist finished with a team score of +74, better than twice as good as the second place team, Gustavus Adolphus. Adolphus finished with a +148, a single shot better than DePauw University.

Adding comments to these stories has been disabled. View the current sports stories Salem-News Sports