DI Women's Golf Championships: Virginia Elena Carta medalist, final eight teams determined

May 23, 2016 | by AmateurGolf.com Staff

Duke's Virginia Elena Carta hoists individual national championship trophy <br>(Photo Courtesy of Duke Athletics)M</br>

She is only a freshman but Duke's Virginia Elena Carta can already call herself an individual national champion after finishing 16-under-par

EUGENE OR (May 23, 2016) - She is only a freshman but Duke's Virginia Elena Carta can already call herself an individual national champion. Carta, who had previously been winless this season, put together four rounds in the 60's at Eugene Country Club and finished 16-under-par. In the process Carta set two NCAA championship records, tying the 54-hole scoring record at 13-under and then setting the new 72-hole standard.

“It means a lot,” Carta told the NCAA. “As I said, I would have never thought [I would have been able] to win this tournament, especially as a freshman. Now my expectations are going to be high. But I mean, it has been a great year. I've been working really hard also with the team, and we've been working so much, so I'm just excited that the work paid off and that my putter finally worked, too.”

Finishing in a distant second place eight-strokes behind at 8-under, were Arizona's Haley Moore and Miami's Dewi Weber.

Carta, the fourth player in Duke history to win the individual championship fired rounds of 69-68-66-69 to runaway with the title. During the four days Carta tallied 20 birdies, just two bogeys and a double- bogey. Her best round came during Saturday's second round when she carded six birdies en route to a bogey-free 6-under 66. Carta, from Italy, was able to close the medalist honors out with a steady four birdie, one bogey final round.

However, Carta will now have to turn her focus solely to the team aspect of the tournament as match play begins on Tuesday. The eight remaining teams will compete in both the quarterfinals and semifinals on Tuesday before a champion is crowned on Wednesday.

QUARTERFINAL MATCHES

(1) UCLA vs. (8) Oregon
(2) Stanford vs. (7) South Carolina
(3) USC vs. (6) Duke
(4) Washington vs. (5) Virginia

The most surprising team not advancing to the quarterfinals is Alabama. After winning the SEC Championship and spending most of the season ranked near the top nationally the Crimson Tide struggled and tied for 12th.

Another storyline to keep an eye on tomorrow, and throughout the remainder of the tournament is home course advantage. Eugene Country Club is the home course for Oregon and that is something that could work to their advantage.

-Duke athletics contributed to this story

Results: NCAA Division I Women's Championship

Place	Player	Location	Pts	Scores
1	Virginia Elena Carta	, Italy	1500	69-68-66-69=272
T2	Haley Moore	Escondido, CA	1000	68-70-74-68=280
T2	Dewi Weber	, Netherlands	1000	69-66-74-71=280
T4	Cheyenne Knight	Aledo, TX	700	69-69-71-73=282
T4	Anna Newell	Tampa, FL	700	69-67-75-71=282

View full results for NCAA Division I Women's Championship

About the NCAA Division I Women's Championship

DI Women's Golf Championships: Virginia Elena Carta medalist, final eight teams determined

30 teams and 6 individuals not on a qualifying team make up the field for the championship of NCAA Division I women's golf. After 72 holes of stroke play, the individual champion is crowned, and the low 8 teams advance to match play to determine the ...