LINCOLN, Calif. ? Junior women?s golfer Mallory Blackwelder will begin play in the 2008 NCAA Championships as an individual representing the University of Kentucky Thursday. Blackwelder was selected to the field of individuals after a phenomenal first season in the Blue and White.
Blackwelder will appear in the West Region field and will play three rounds of 18 holes May 8-10, at the Lincoln Hills Golf Club. The tournament is hosted by Sacramento State University.
Three regional tournaments will be conducted May 8-10 to determine the championships field. Regional tournaments are considered preliminary rounds of NCAA championships competition.
A total of 324 participants were selected for regional competition. Of these players, 126 will advance to the championships finals. Eight teams and two individuals will advance from each regional.
Blackwelder is one of three individuals selected for the West regional, and one of nine individuals taken among the three collective regions. Blackwelder joins Danielle Cvitanov of San Francisco and Emily Powers of Kansas as the individual field in the West.
The junior from Versailles, Ky., and an outstanding season as a first-year player for the Wildcats. She notched three top-10 finishes, including a tie for second at the Qdoba Invitational. Additionally, her scoring average of 75.27 for the season is the best in school history, eclipsing Kate Rogers? 75.71 mark set in 1987-88. Blackwelder also made her LPGA debut this season, appearing in the Kraft Nabisco Championship in early April.
Thursday’s and Friday’s rounds will start at 8:10 a.m. Teams will be grouped based on seeding and players will play in threesomes. Play will begin on the 1st and 12th tees. Saturday’s round will also start at 8:10 a.m. Teams and players will be reseeded based upon scores through the first 36 holes.
The Lincoln Hills Golf Club first appeared on Northern California?s public golf scene in 1999 as an 18-hole, Billy Casper/Greg Nash-designed golf course. In 2004, another nine holes were unveiled, with the last nine completed in the summer of 2005. The final two nines, solely designed by Greg Nash, are seamlessly incorporated into the original course thereby creating two 18-hole layouts (Hills and Orchard Courses) with traditional out-and-back configurations.
Through the years, The Lincoln Hills Golf Club as successfully hosted competitive events such as the LPGA Tour’s Longs Drug Challenge in 2003, as well as hundreds of other local charity and corporate events.
Complete coverage of Blackwelder in the NCAA Championships can be found at www.ukathletics.com.
