FERRIS STATE RETAINS THIRD PLACE IN SECOND GOLF WORLD POLL

*2007-08 Golf World/NGCA Division II Coaches' Poll Release (10/3/07)* PDF

Becky Hoffman and the Ferris State women's golf team continue to maintain their third-place national ranking.

The second Golf World/National Golf Coaches Association (NGCA) Women's Golf Coaches' Top-25 Poll of the 2007-08 season has the Ferris State University women's golf team ranked third nationally. The poll, which will appear in the Oct. 5 issue of Golf World, was released Wednesday, Oct. 3.

The Bulldogs received 348 points to finish 36 points in front of fourth-place Grand Valley State's 312 total points while Florida Southern remained number one with 394 points and 13 first-place votes. Florida Southern, the 2007 NCAA-Division II National Champions, garnered 20 more points than second-place Rollins (Fla.). Tarleton State (Texas) earned the other first-place votes and is listed seventh in the national poll.

The poll is based on the selections of nine women's coaches from across the country and can be viewed online at www.golfdigest.com/golfworld.

The Bulldogs, who are coached by ninth-year head coach Brad Bedortha, have won three tournament championship titles this fall -- Ferris State Bulldog Invitational (Sept. 1-2) in Big Rapids, Mich., Olviet Invitational (Sept. 21-22) in Marshall, Mich., and the Northwood Invitational (Sept. 28-29) in Midland, Mich. In Ferris State's most recent outing, the Bulldogs captured second-place honors at the 11-team Findlay William "Bing" Beall Classic (Sept. 30-Oct. 1) in Arlington, Ohio.

Along with Ferris State and Grand Valley State, the other Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC)-member institutions to receive national mention in the poll were Northwood (18 points) and Findlay (11 points). The two were among 20 schools listed as those receiving votes.

Ferris State will wrap up the fall portion of its 2007-08 schedule Oct. 15-16 at the Nova Southeastern Shark Invitational in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.

Individually, senior Becky Hoffman (Swartz Creek) is tied for sixth place in par three scoring at 3.17 according to the latest (Oct. 5) Golfstat NCAA Division II rankings. Freshman Jacqueline Benscoter (Metamorra/Lapeer West) is in ninth place (2.33) for subpar strokes per round. Hoffman currently has posted a squad-leading 77.00 stroke average (1,001 total strokes) in 13 rounds this fall while Benscoter ranks third among the team leaders with a 78.08 average (937 total strokes) in 12 rounds to date.

Ferris, which finished third at the 2007 NCAA-II National Championships, is presently listed third by Golfstat in par four scoring (4.40), fourth in par three scoring (3.32), and tied for fourth in par five scoring (5.28).