Weather makes Tradition more challenging

B.J. DeGroot

With a rain-soaked opening round to UNCW’s banner golf tournament, the Landfall Tradition, and a wind wiped second round, scores were much higher than expected.

Tulsa’s men’s team took home the championship with a three-day total of 868, 26 shots better than second place Xavier.

The women’s bracket featured a tie between Michigan State and Virginia, which the Cavaliers broke after a fifth player card playoff, and took home the title.

UNCW’s women’s squad finished 10th, and the men’s team finished 12th in a tournament that featured five of the nation’s top 16 women’s teams and the ninth ranked Purdue men.

Freshman Carmen Perez-Narbon led the Seahawks individually with a tie for eighth place, shooting a 2-under final round to end the tournament 10-over par at 226.

Weather greeted the players as they arrived early both Friday and Saturday mornings. Friday’s first round was sloppy as rain pushed through Wilmington most of the day. A sun- soaked sky had all the promise for a great low scoring second round, but Mother Nature used her lungs and kicked up the wind providing trouble all day long for the players. From club selection to extremely quick greens, the wind found more than one way to have its own effect on the second round.

On Saturday, players complained about having to use two more clubs for the distances they were facing specifically because of the wind; couple that with an already difficult course, and the frustration was obvious.

“This is one of the toughest courses I’ve ever played,” Maryland player Hunter Bendall said.

There were only three players who recorded final scores under par, Tulsa claimed two of them on the men’s side, both 1-under-pars by co-medalists Nicolas Geyger and Mitch Cohlmia. Sara Brown of Michigan State was also at one under par on the women’s side.

The tournament which was played on the courses designed by Jack Nicklaus, a member of the Golf Hall of Fame, offered 27 holes of championship golf. The Nicklaus course, titled “The Ocean,” has views of the Intercoastal Waterway as well as the unbelievable and breathtaking nine holes entitled the Nicklaus Marsh Nine that follows along the Howe Creek. His last set of nine, The Pines, has a true North Carolina woods feel.

The event which is hosted by UNCW is in its fifth year and was formed as an effort to attract nationally-ranked teams to the area for a tournament as well as generated funds for the men’s and women’s golf programs at UNCW.

According to Bill Paris, head of marketing and public relations, since The Tradition began, almost $110,000 will have been generated for each of the golf programs at UNCW through this year’s 2006 event.

In the four years since the tournament was created, The Tradition has quickly become one of the premier collegiate golf tournaments in the nation. It has consistently attracted nationally-ranked teams and features teams from major conferences.

Women’s head coach Cindy Ho is pleased with the progress of the tournament.

“Having nationally-ranked teams at The Tradition provides tremendous exposure of the college game to Wilmington and showcases the high caliber of players and teams to this area,” she said.