Nicole Sakamoto has a month to cement herself as the best golfer ever at James Madison.
Sakamoto, a 2008 Kalani graduate, already holds single-season and career marks for the lowest scoring average since the school kept statistics beginning in 1993.
This year, she’s on pace with her record-setting sophomore season in which she placed in the top-10 six times and won two tournaments.
Sakamoto recorded her third collegiate victory last month, winning individual medalist honors at the UNCW Seahawk Classic on March 25.
She entered the final day trailing by a stroke before shooting an even-par 72 to win the tourney by a shot.
It was her fifth consecutive round of par or better, and her tournament total of 4-under 212 tied the school record for the best ever in a 54-hole tournament with current Old Dominion coach Carol Green.
NICOLE SAKAMOTO
School: James Madison
Class: Senior
Height: 5 feet 8
High school: Kalani (2008)
Highlights: Three-time tournament medalist with 15 career top-10 finishes and nine top-five finishes; Five-time CAA Player of the Week; qualified for the 2010 NCAA East Regional as an individual; holds the school records for lowest single-season and career-scoring averages since stats were kept beginning in 1993.
CAREER STATS
| |
|
|
Low |
|
|
Top |
| Year |
Rounds |
Strokes |
round |
Events |
1 |
5 |
10 |
Avg. |
| 2008-09 |
30 |
2348 |
72 |
10 |
– |
– |
1 |
78.3 |
| 2009-10 |
30 |
2249 |
69 |
11 |
2 |
4 |
6 |
75.0 |
| 2010-11 |
28 |
2151 |
71 |
10 |
– |
1 |
3 |
76.8 |
| 2011-12 |
30 |
2249 |
69 |
8 |
1 |
4 |
5 |
75.0 |
|
It was the fourth top-five finish of the season, equaling the mark she set as a sophomore when she earned six top-10 finishes. Her 74.98 scoring average this season trails her school-record mark set as a sophomore by .01 heading into the Colonial Athletic Association Championships April 20-22 at St. James Plantation in Southport, N.C.
Sakamoto will try and one-up her sophomore season at the conference tournament, where she finished second and earned a berth in the NCAA East Regional, where she tied for 54th.
She followed up that performance later in the summer with a win at the 2010 Hawaii Women’s Stroke Play tournament.
In her four years, Sakamoto has never missed a tournament. She entered the spring season of her senior year leading the Dukes with a 74.5 scoring average in 15 rounds and finished in the top 13 of four of the five tournaments she played.
Her most recent effort was a tie for 41st place at 14-over 230 at the Knights & Pirates Invitational that ended Tuesday in Melbourne, Fla.
James Madison, located in Harrisonburg, Va., is currently ranked third in the CAA, according to Golfstat, behind leader Georgia State and last year’s CAA champions North Carolina-Wilmington.
The winner of the three-day tournament will earn the league’s automatic bid into the NCAA regionals.
