Lee prepares for NCAA Division III Women's Golf Championships

HOWEY-IN-THE-HILLS, Fla. – LeTourneau University's Leslie Lee is less than 24 hours away from Tuesday's opening round of the NCAA Division III Women's Golf Championship at the Mission Inn Resort.

 

The junior golfer from Longview, Texas, set new standards for the LeTourneau University athletic program by becoming the first athlete in the history of the program to reach an NCAA Division III Championship event and is the first female in the 11-year history of the sport to reach this achievement.

 

Not only did Lee qualify for the women's golf championship, but she also became the first female golfer to win the American Southwest Conference Individual Women's Golf Championship. This past season, Lee won two tournaments – ConCan Intercollegiate Classic and the American Southwest Conference Championship. She took second twice and never has finished less than eighth in nine tournaments.

 

Lee, who opens her round at 1:20 p.m. (12:20 p.m., CST) on Tuesday, May 11, arrived in Howey-in-the-Hills, Fla., Saturday and spent Sunday preparing for the tournament by practicing on the putting green and driving range in the morning.

 

Eleven conferences have been granted automatic qualification and the remaining nine teams were selected on an at-large basis from conferences and the remaining independent institutions. Six individuals, not from selected teams, also were selected for the championships.

 

In the 2010 field is the defending champions – Methodist University. Joining Methodist is Gustavus Adolphus College, George Fox University, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, DePauw University, Williams College, St. Mary's College (Indiana), Illinois Wesleyan University, St. Lawrence University, Southwestern University (Texas), Olivet College, Otterbein College, Allegheny College, Centre College, Washington University-St. Louis, Whitworth University, Wartburg College, Franklin College, Schreiner University and Carroll University.

 

Joining Lee as individuals at the tournament is Jessica Urban (University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point), Kimberly Eaton (Wellesley College), Flora Weeks (Middlebury College), Kathryn Hauff (College of St. Benedict), Stephanie Mingos (Rhodes College).

 

The championship will consist of both team and individual competition conducted concurrently. The tournament consists of 72 holes of play over four days of competition. In the team competition, the low four scores from each team for each day will count in the team's total score.

 

Players will get adjusted to the tournament format Monday as the putting green and driving range opened at 7:00 a.m. A practice round began at 9:00 a.m.

 

Play for the opening round of the NCAA Division III Women's Golf Championships begins at 8:00 a.m. (7:00 a.m., CST), Tuesday, May 11 at the Mission Inn Resort. Lee is among the afternoon players and will tee-off at 1:20 p.m. (12:20 p.m. CST).

 

Oglethorpe University and the Central Florida Sports Commission serve as hosts of the championships. There will be live stats available every three holes and to follow Lee's progress, check http://golfstat.com and click on Golfstat Live Scoring, NCAA Division III Championship.

 

For more information about the tournament, click the link at NCAA.com: http://www.ncaa.com/sports/w-golf/champpage/w-golf-div3-index.html