DENVER - Another season, another Sun Belt Conference championship.
This seems to be the modus operandi for head coach Sammie Chergo and the No. 43 University of Denver women's golf team. After failing to finish higher than 10th place during their 2011 spring regular season, the Pioneers locked things down as postseason play began and came out of the 2011 Club Glove SBC Championship tournament in Muscle Shoals, Ala., with their eighth-straight SBC title.
"I'm really proud of this team," Chergo said. "Passion and purpose were two things we talked about throughout the year. The team never forgot them as they continued to improve throughout the season and claimed the Sun Belt title."
The SBC championship gave Denver an automatic bid in the 2011 NCAA West Regional hosted by the University of Washington on Washington National Golf Course in Auburn, Wash. The Pioneers battled over three days and finished 13th out of 24 teams, beating No. 18 Georgia and No. 20 Pepperdine, but missing the eighth place finish needed to advance to the NCAA championships in Bryan, Texas.
"Advancing to the NCAA championships will always be our goal," Chergo added. "Although we came up a bit short this season, this was still a successful season, and we gained a lot of experience that will carry over into next season."
Junior Sarah Faller (Galway, Ireland) led the Pioneers at the Washington regional, finishing tied for 18th with at 7-over par 223 (74-73-76). Senior Ellie Givens (Darlington, England) finished tied for 37th with a 12-over 228 (74-80-74), freshman Tonje Daffinrud (Tonsberg, Norway) finished tied for 70th with a 19-over 235 (81-77-77), sophomore Kelly Drack (Melbourne, Fla.) finished tied for 89th with 23-over 289 (83-77-79) and junior Anna Christenson (Lincoln, Neb.) finished tied for 93rd with a 24-over 240 (78-83-79).
USC won the regional team title with a 2-over par 866, and Erica Popson of Tennessee won the regional individual crown with an 8-under par 208.
Givens and Drack helped lead Denver to the SBC title, solidifying the Pioneers' regional bid with 2-over par 218 performances on The Schoolmaster Course at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Course at the Shoals. The two tied for third and were named to the SBC All-Conference team. Daffinrud finished tied for ninth with a 5-over 221 (72-72-77), and Christenson finished tied for 17th after shooting a 3-under 69 on the final day and carding a 9-over 225 (73-83-69) for the tournament. Faller rounded out the Pioneers five-stroke win over Middle Tennessee State, carding a 13-over 229 (73-78-78) and finishing in a tie for 28th.
The Pioneers opened the 2011 spring season in February at the Northrupp Grumman Regional Challenge at the Palos Verdes Golf Club in Palos Verdes, Calif. Denver finished 10th with an 86-over par 938 during the three-day tournament. Daffinrud led DU with a 12-over 225 (80-74-71) to finish 23rd.
Denver closed out February with a trip to the Allstate Sugar Bowl Intercollegiate meet at the English Turn Golf and Country Club in New Orleans. The Pioneers finished in 17th place with a 63-over par 927. Givens finished in 52nd place with a tournament total of 12-over 216 (75-77-76), and Drack finished in 60th place, carding scores of 76-76-77 for total of 13-over 229.
DU traveled to San Diego at the end of March to compete in the Battle at Rancho Bernardo tournament at the Rancho Bernardo Golf Club. The Pioneers finished in 12th on the par-72 course with a 59-over 923, and were led by Givens and Drack who finished in 16th (74-77-73=224) and 34th (76-76-77=229), respectively.
The Pioneers finished the regular season with a 15th place finish at the PING/ASU Invitational on Karsten Golf Course in Tempe, Ariz. Denver carded scores of 302-303-315 to finish with a 56-over 920. Givens finished tied for 49th with 13-over 229 (76-74-79). Daffinrud (76-77-78), Drack (73-77-81) and Faller (79-75-77) all finished tied for 57th with a three-round total of 15-over 231.
Taking into account four fall tournaments the Pioneers played in prior to the 2011 spring season, Denver finished with an average of 303.07 in 30 tournament rounds and was 16.87 versus par.
Givens, the lone senior on this year's team, led the Pioneers this season, averaging 74.79 in 24 tournament rounds. Her highest finish of the season was a tie for third at the Sun Belt Conference championships.
Drack, who also finished tied for third at the SBC tournament, averaged 75.33 in 30 tournament rounds and posted two scores in the 60s during the season - at the Challenge at Onion Creek in Austin, Texas, in November and again during the second round of SBC tournament play. Drack will return for her junior season in 2011-12.
Daffinrud claimed Denver's lone individual title of the season, winning the Challenge at Onion Creek in the fall. She finished third on the team in scoring, averaging 76.53 in 30 tournament rounds. The talented freshman should battle for the top spot on the Pioneer roster as a sophomore next season.
Faller finished fourth on the team with an average of 77.83 in 24 tournament rounds. She finished in a tie for eighth at the Branch Law Firm Dick McGuire Invitational in Albuquerque, N. M., to begin the fall season. Faller will be a senior in 2011-12.
Christenson's season was highlighted by the 69 she posted in the final day of the SBC tournament that helped Denver lock down its eighth consecutive title. She finished with a 78.17 average in 30 tournaments and returns as a senior next season.
Sophomore Tory Bauman (River Hill, Wisc.) and redshirt-sophomore Lindsay Cone (Killington, Vt.) saw limited action this season, but will be looked to for contributions in 2011-12. Bauman played in four tournaments this season, finishing with an average of 80.33. Cone, who is also an All-American on the DU ski team, played in one tournament for Denver this season.
