The Loop
Alabama women remain No. 1 in GW/NGCA women's poll
The three top ranked teams in each division of women's college golf--Alabama at D-I, Nova Southeastern at D-II and Methodist at D-III--all kept their spots atop their respective polls in the first spring editions of the Golf World/NGCA coaches' poll.
In the Division I poll, what was interesting was the two schools who joined the ranks of the top 25: No. 16 Arizona State and No. 19 Iowa State. The Sun Devils were ranked in the preseason women's poll (No. 21) but hadn't been in the top 25 for the rest of the fall since they didn't play in any tournaments as a team while refilling a line-up shrunk by graduation and players turning pro. Yet ASU's third-place finish at the Arizona Wildcat and second-place showing at the Northrup Grumman Regional Challenge has them back among the ranked.
Meanwhile, fresh off its runner-up finish to Alabama at the Lady Puerto Rico Classic, Iowa State becomes a ranked team for the first time since Golf World revived its polls 10 years ago. (The Cyclones win at the Central District yesterday was too late to be including before the end of the voting period, but only validated their performance in Puerto Rico.)
While the voting closed Feb. 18, Nova Southeastern solidified its No. 1 ranking with an easy victory yesterday at the Lady Moc Classic. The Sharks set a tournament record with their second-round two-over 290 score.
Methodist plays its first spring tournament at the Jekyll Island Invitational March 18-20.