Golf: Shon participates in NCAA Regional

Freshman Kelly Shon represented Princeton University this past weekend in the NCAA East Regional Tournament, which took place in Daytona Beach, Fla., at the LPGA International course. She finished with an 11-over score in the three-day event, coming in tied for 52nd in the 126-player field.

Shon was one of six players who qualified as individuals, joining members of 24 schools also competing in team competition this weekend. She was the 5th Tiger to represent Princeton since 1995 in the individual competition in the NCAA Regionals.

“I was playing pretty well before coming down to Daytona,” said Shon. “I had been practicing as much as I could with all that was going on on campus the past week so I did expect some better playing out of me. With that said, I feel grateful to be here, and it's also great to see some of my friends from junior golf again.”

The tournament consisted of three rounds of play. Shon was very consistent, shooting a 5-over 77 in the first round and a two-over 74 in the second before closing with a 4-over 76.

“The competition is obviously much stronger compared to our regular season schedule,” said Shon. “But even so, I think if I had played like I expected myself to, I could be in contention for the win. Unfortunately, I'm fighting a huge dilemma in my swing right now and it's very hard, both physically and mentally, for me to just play my game. It also makes it a little tougher to mentally stay on the course with my best attitude when I know I should be writing my paper and studying for my exams that are waiting for me back at Princeton.”

The individual scores at this NCAA Regional Tournament were led by Stephanie Meadow of Alabama. Meadow shot a minus-9 over three rounds of tournament play. She was ahead of second place Pia Halbig of California University, who finished at minus-3.

Shon finished third out of the six players who were competing individually,

The field was very widespread, with scores ranging from minus-9 to plus-82.

The eight teams to qualify for the NCAA Championships were Alabama, North Carolina, Arizona State, Coastal California, California, Purdue, Florida, and Vanderbuilt. The two individuals to qualify were Caroline Powers of Michigan State and Jessica Negron of Florida State.

The NCAA Championship Tournament will be played on the weekend of May 18th-21st at Texas A&M University.