June 19, 2006

Incoming Wolfpack golf recruits Emily Street and Kathleen Strandberg had impressive showings while playing in their first North Carolina Women's Amateur Championship on June 13-15, at Morganton's Mimosa Hills Country Club (par 72, 5,822-yards). Street, from Forest City, finished as the runner-up in a dual against eventual champion Adrienne Millican. The future Wolfpacker carded a 213 after rounds of 71-72-70. Her total was just one shy of tying the course record of 212 shot by current NC State head coach Page Marsh in 1985. Street's future teammate Kathleen Strandberg, also an incoming recruit, played her way into a top seven finish. Strandberg, from Greensboro, shot 77-75-73=225.

"This is really exciting for me," said Street. "This is my first state women's amateur so I'm thrilled with the finish. I thought I could win it when I went up one with four to play, but Adrienne is an excellent player. She won it with those birdies on 16 and 17."

With four holes to play in the 54-hole championship, Street held a one-stroke lead, after Millican had started the day with a three-shot advantage. By the time the two players walked off the 14th green of the final round, Millican's lead was gone and she found herself down one, after a birdie and eagle by Street on 13 and 14.

At Mimosa's 15th hole, a difficult 352-yard par four, Street made bogey, while Millican got up-and-down for par from 50 yards out from the green after chipping out of the left woods. Winner of five college tournaments during her illustrious ECU career, Milligan asserted herself and took control of the championship sticking it to within tap-in range for birdie at 16 and rolling in a 15-footer for birdie on the par-3 17th.

Street carded rounds of 71-72-70=213 on the 5,822 yard Mimosa layout, a 1929 Donald Ross designed course in the N.C. foothills. Millican's rounds of 72-68-70=210 set a new scoring record for the event. The previous best 54-hole total was set by Wolfpack head coach Page Marsh with 72-69-71=212 in winning the 1985 N.C. Women's Amateur at Cypess Lake in Fayetteville. Marsh owns six N.C. Am titles (1983, '84, '85, '96, '97, '99).

At Chase High School in Forest City, N.C., Street was the Carolina Golf Association 2004 Junior Player of the Year and is a two-time NCHSAA regional winner and a two-time runner-up at the state championship. She was the state championship runner-up in 2005.

Strandberg made a big jump on the leaderboard during the final round. The Greensboro player shot 77-75-73 to finish seventh overall in the 112-player field. This is Strandberg's second outstanding performance in a major women's event in North Carolina this summer. Back in early May at the CC of South Carolina she finished tied for seventh in the 80th Carolinas Women's Amateur Championship, shooting 80-76-74=230.

Strandberg owns the North Carolina state record with a nine-hole score of 31, leading her team to a state record 69 at Pine Knolls Golf Club in Kernersville, while walking the links at Page High School in Greensboro, N.C.

Full-field results for the 57th annual N.C. Women's Amateur can be found at www.ncwga.com.

Special thanks to Carter Cheves for contributing to this report.