May 22, 2009 Live Scoring | Complete Results OWINGS MILLS, Md. - Senior Nannette Hill finished off her week, as well as her collegiate career, with a solid round of even-par 72 to lead Wake Forest to a tied for 13th finish at the 2009 NCAA Women's Golf Championships at Caves Valley Golf Club Friday. Hill came into the round at 6-over par and was in a tie for eighth. She was the only player in the top-14 that played in the morning wave. The Pelham, N.Y., native made a total of three birdies and three bogeys in her final round. She started with a bogey at the first but got it right back with a birdie at the second. A three-putt bogey at the par-3 fourth dropped her back to 1-over and that's where she stayed until a nice birdie at the ninth gave her an even-par front nine. Hill then opened the back nine with four-straight pars, narrowly missing birdie at No. 13. However, on the 14th, she spun her approach shot back to 5-feet and rolled in the putt to go to 1-under. A par at the 16th was followed by a perfect drive and a ringing 3-wood that found its way onto the putting surface in two at the par-5 17th. The good news was that she was standing over an eagle-putt. The bad news was that it was all of 70-feet and had to go down and over a large swale. Her first putt carried a bit too much speed over the ridge and raced 12-feet past. She then missed the birdie putt coming back but still walked off with a par. Hill's only miscue of the back nine came at the finishing hole. She had a perfect drive and a good second shot over the pin to 25-feet. Her first putt slide by the cup about two and a half feet and she would miss the comebacker. Despite the misstep at the last, Hill finished the tournament at 6-over and finished tied for sixth. "Nannette played steady and consistent all week long and that's what you had to do on this golf course," said Wake Forest head coach Dianne Dailey. "She just played her game and was very composed. She never got frustrated."
Hill's finish ties her with Laura Philo (Diaz) for the second-best individual finish for a Demon Deacon at the NCAA Championships. Diaz took sixth as a junior in 1996. The best individual finish for Wake came in 2000 when Marta Prieto finished second at the Crosswater Course in Sunriver, Ore. This was also Hill's final tournament of her outstanding career at Wake Forest. Her and fellow senior Jean Chua are just the fifth and sixth Deacons to have played in four consecutive NCAA Championships and she finishes with an outstanding 74.5 stroke average over those four years at the finals. As a team, the Deacons rebounded from an extremely tough day on Thursday to post a round of 16-over 304. Wake was 6-over at the turn but like they had all week, holes 13 and 14 gave the Deacs fits as they were a combined 8-over on the two holes today. Wake finishes the 72-hole event at 73-over par and tied with Michigan State for 13th overall. "Overall it was a good week but we're a little disappointed with our overall finish," said Dailey. "We wanted to come in here and play a little better than we did but we had a good time and I think the students learned a lot and can take that with them into next season. I think we got a little tired there the last few days." Freshman Cheyenne Woods, who was playing in her first NCAA Championship, was the second-lowest finisher for the Deacs this week. She carded matching nines of 39 on Friday to finish with a round of 78. After sticking her tee-shot to 4-feet at the downhill par-3 12th, Woods was just 2-over for the day but finished with four bogeys in her last six holes. Woods finished tied for 70th at 23-over for the tournament and seemed to take a lot from her first experience on the NCAA's big stage. "This week was really exciting," said Woods. "It was good being here with the team and with all of the other top teams in the country. It was a fun week but a really long week too. Six-straight days of golf on a tough course took its toll. I think we're all exhausted right now." Like Hill, Jean Chua was playing in her last collegiate tournament this week. After a tough opening round, the senior from Malaysia closed with two rounds of 77 to finish at 25-over and tied for 82nd. "This was a long tough week for me," said Chua. "I started to struggle during Regionals and coach and I worked all last week on trying to get things figured out. I played all right this week but I never felt comfortable. I had to focus so much on every shot and I never really got going. I played a lot better over the last two days but and I think that was because I chipped and putted real well." Chua also had a little more to play for this week. Her parents made the 30-hour trip from Cheras, Malaysia to see their daughter play for the first time as a Demon Deacon. "I was real excited the first two days," Chua said. "My parents haven't seen me play in the last four years and I really wanted to prove to them how much I have improved and I think I was pressing a little bit early on. But I settled in a little bit over the last two days and I played a bit better." Chua also had an outstanding four-year career at Wake Forest and will take a lot from her experiences. "I have definitely enjoyed the last four years here at Wake," Chua continued. "I wouldn't trade it for anything. Most of my friends from junior golf in Asia are already playing professionally and making money but I don't regret my decision at all. I grew up and learned so much in four years at Wake and I would never trade that for anything." Coach Dailey also expressed her sentiments about her two senior leaders. "It was exciting to have both Jean and Nannette finish-up their careers here at the NCAA Tournament," said Dailey. "It's been a joy having them here the last four years and they have been solid contributors the whole time. I'm just really proud how they came through and played really well this last year." Sophomore Natalie Sheary had a roller coaster week and her final round was no exception. She started with a birdie at No. 2 but then hit her tee-shot into the water on the par-3 fourth and made a double-bogey five. After a back-to-back bogies at six and seven, Sheary made the turn at 3-over par. She opened the back with a nice birdie at No. 10 but gave it right back with bogies at Nos. 12 and 13. She then came to the par-3 15th which has had her number all week. Sheary had made bogey in each of the first three rounds but on Friday, she stuck her tee-shot to within five feet and rolled in the birdie putt. The joy wouldn't last though as she found trouble at No. 16 and made a double-bogey six. But Sheary bounced back with a birdie at the par-5 17th and closed with a bogey at No. 18 for a final round 77. Sheary, the 2009 ACC Individual Champion, finished the 72-hole event at 27-over 315 and tied for 90th. Sophomore Allie Bodemann started the tournament with a strong round of 1-over 73 but struggled to find anything that worked the rest of the week. She closed with a round of 83 on Friday and finished-up at 36-over. Arizona State came out of the Pac Ten showdown on top, winning the National Championship with a 72-hole total of 30-over par. UCLA was second at 38-over and Southern Cal was third at 39-over. The ACC was well represented as Duke carded a 296 on Friday to finish sixth while North Carolina wound up finishing seventh and Virginia eighth. The individual race came down to the end as well. Purdue's Maria Hernandez birdied two out of her last three holes to finish with a round of 1-under 71 and was in at 1-over par. Third round leader Jennifer Song from Southern Cal took a 1-shot lead with a birdie at the 14th and held that 1-shot lead up until the final hole where she made a double-bogey six to lose by 1-shot.
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