THIS WEEK IN COUGAR GOLF
Sioux Falls sophomore Tavia Rutherford was one of four individual players selected to compete in the NCAA Central Region Tournament held at the St. Joseph Country Club in St. Joseph, Mo. May 5-7. She was seeded third by the NCAA Division II Women's Golf Committee, who announced the 2013 selections Monday afternoon.
Rutherford is the first women's golfer since 2009 to represent USF in post-season play. She spoke about the opportunity and how she has prepared for the weekend in her interview above (click play icon).
Each super regional will consist of both team and individual competition conducted concurrently with nine teams and four individuals from non-qualifying teams at each site.
All participants will compete throughout the 54 holes of competition. The top three teams along with the top three individuals not with a team from each super regional will advance to the championships.
The 2013 NCAA Division II Women's Golf Championships will be held May 15-18, at LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Fla.
For more information about the 2013 NCAA DII Women's Golf Championships and live results, click HERE.
THE COURSE
St. Joseph Country Club is a course Rutherford and several regional participants are familiar with as it was the site of Missouri Western State's Candle Suite Classic March 31 and April1. Four of the nine teams, and two of the four individual players, competed at MWSU's tournament.
Rutherford carded rounds of 81 and 84 including a tournament-high six birdies to finish eighth at the Candle Suite Classic earlier this season.
THE FIELD
The complete field for the NCAA Central Regional (in order of seeds) is as follows:
| Schools |
Individuals |
| 1. Central Oklahoma |
1. Steph Charteris, Northwest Missouri State |
| 2. Augustan (S.D.) |
2. Natalie Bird, Missouri Western State |
| 3. Northeastern State |
3. Tavia Rutherford, Sioux Falls |
| 4. Harding |
4. Ana Summers, Nebraska-Kearney |
| 5. Southwestern Oklahoma State |
|
| 6. Arkansas Tech |
|
| 7. Henderson State |
|
| 8. Minnesota State |
|
| 9. Concordia St. Paul |
|
RUTHERFORD'S SEASON IN REVIEW
Rutherford's outstanding sophomore campaign was capped with a ninth place finish at the NSIC Championship April 20 and 21. In 10 appearances, she boasts seven top-10 finishes. Playing in the Cougars' No. 1 spot all season, Rutherford is playing her best golf this spring where two of her five top-5 finishes were earned in just four outings. One of those efforts came last Saturday when she fired a career-low 74 two-over par in the Cougars dual with Augustana College. It was the lowest round scored by any Cougar this season and her seventh sub-80 performance this year.
Rutherford enters regional action with a scoring average of 81.8, which ranks eighth in the conference. For a closer look at her 2012-13 results, please see season statistics HERE.
