May 7, 2007
WACO, Texas - The Baylor women's golf team has signed Lene Hafsten-Morch to a national letter of intent, head coach Sylvia Ferdon announced on Monday.
Hafsten-Morch, a native of Asker, Norway, won the 2006 Norwegian Junior A-Tour Match Play Championships, and is currently ranked #1 in the Norwegian Junior Rankings on the A-Tour Order of Merit.
"Lene is very athletic and has a very strong golf game," said Ferdon. "She comes to Baylor highly recommended by her national coaches, and having met her, I can see she has a great desire to succeed."
She won the 2006 Knogsberg and Sorknes Junior A-Tour tournaments, and placed second at the 2006 P4 Interspons Open.
Hafsten-Morch has a top amateur finish of 48th in the 2006 SAS Masters Ladies European Tour Open, shooting 68 during her second round. She is also ranked fifth on the P4 Norwegian Order of Merit, a ranking system that includes both amateurs and professionals.
"I believe that Baylor University can offer Lene a great opportunity to make an immediate impact for our golf team," said Ferdon. "She can help to keep our program very competitive at the national level."
The Lady Bears return to action on May 10-12 in the NCAA Women's Golf Championship Regionals hosted by Michigan. The invitation is the eighth straight for Baylor dating back to 2000 under head coach Sylvia Ferdon. Baylor's 2004 program advanced to the NCAA Finals and finished tied for 19th. Last year the Bears finished 14th at the Central Regional held at the Traditions Club in Bryan, Texas; the best BU individual score was posted by Anna Rehnholm who finished tied for 44th shooting 17 over par.
Regional tournaments are considered preliminary rounds of NCAA championships competition, and all national championships policies will apply. A total of 324 participants have been selected for the regional competition. Of these players, 126 will advance to the championships finals including eight teams and two individuals from each regional.
The championships finals will be held May 22-25 at the LPGA International Legends Course, Daytona Beach, Florida, hosted by the University of Central Florida and the Central Florida Sports Commission.
