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NCAA Women's Golf Regionals: Wenyung Keh sets school record for UW

by Kevin Danna
May 7, 2018

Washington and UCLA women's golf lead their regionals after 18 holes of NCAA Regionals play on Monday. Ten Pac-12 women's golf teams along with Washington State's Alivia Brown began postseason play on Monday; the top six teams from each 18-team regional along with the top three individuals from each regional will advance to the NCAA Championships, which will be held May 18-23 in Stillwater, Okla. After one day, eight Pac-12 teams are in position to advance to the NCAA Championships.

Tallahassee Regional (Don Veller Seminole Golf Course- hosted by Florida State)

Washington

The fourth-seeded Huskies set the tone in Tallahassee on Monday, shooting 15-under as a team to take a seven-stroke lead over Furman heading into the second round on Tuesday. Paving the way for the 2016 NCAA champs was Wenyung Keh, who played a bogey-free round on Monday to shoot 63 (-9) and put herself two shots clear of Furman's Natalie Srinivasan atop the player leaderboard. Oh, by the way, that mark is a school record (two players had shot 65 in Husky history before Monday):

Not far behind is teammate Sarah Rhee, who is in a three-way tie for third at 5-under, while Julianne Alvarez is also in the top 10 with a 2-under 70.

Arizona

Entering regional play as the No. 3 seed in Florida, the Wildcats probably hoped to be in better positioning than 10th after 18 holes. That said, a 2-over 290 as a team in the first round only has them five shots out of the top six, so Arizona's week still has plenty of promise. YuSang Hou was the brightest spot for the 'Cats, shooting a 3-under 69 to end Monday in a tie for seventh. Gig Stoll battled back from a double-bogey on 11 to finish even par and get into a tie for 24th, while everybody else finished over par for the Wildcats.

Madison Regional (University Ridge Golf Course- Hosted by Wisconsin)

USC

The second-seeded Trojans are near the top of the leaderboard as expected, with a 3-under 285 slotting them in third behind only Virginia (-9) and Duke (-5). USC has two golfers in the top 10 on the individual leaderboard, with Allisen Corpuz in a tie for fifth at 3-under and Amelia Garvey one shot back at 2-under and in a tie for eighth. Corpuz had the highlight of the day for Andrea Gaston's group with an eagle on the second hole. 

Even more reason for optimism for USC going forward is that their top-ranekd golfer, Jennifer Chang (No. 26 according to Golfstat's women's college player rankings), shot 1-over for the day.

Arizona State

The defending champs find themselves in fourth place after an even-par Monday (288). Sophia Zeeb, Arizona State's No. 3 golfer, had the lone under-par round of the day for the Sun Devils by carding a 70 to get herself in a tie for eighth, while Roberta Liti shot even par for the eight-time NCAA champs.

Oregon State

Heck of a day for the Beavers, who find themselves one shot behind Arizona State in fifth place at 1-over (289). Oregon State, which was one of the last at-large teams in the tournament as a No. 14 seed, actually was 1-under as a team heading into the last couple of holes before some late bogeys knocked the Beavs down a peg. Either way, it was a great day for Nicole Schroeder, who was 5-under after 16 holes and finished with a 4-under 68 to work her way into a tie for third and just one shot off the lead held by Virginia's Beth Lillie and Wisconsin's Gabby Curtis. Olivia Benzin also finds herself in the top 20 at even par. Looks like the coaches keeping things loose before NCAA play began might have helped the Beavs...

San Francisco Regional (TPC Harding Park- Hosted by Stanford)

UCLA

The two-time defending Pac-12 champs continued their strong play by pacing the field to the tune of an 8-under 280 as a team, four shots clear of Kent State and conference friend Colorado. Mariel Galdiano, UCLA's third-highest-ranked golfer according to Golfstat, blazed the trail for the Bruins by playing a bogey-free round en route to a 6-under 66 that has her in a tie for first.

Patty Tavatanakit, a first-team all-Pac-12er and Pac-12 Golfer of the Month for April after winning individual medalist honors at the Pac-12 Championships, carded a four-under 68 and is currently in fourth place after registering two eagles on the round on the fourth and ninth holes. Meanwhile, Lilia Vu, the No. 1-ranked golfer according to Golfstat, is tied for 10th at 1-under (she was 3-under through 14 holes before double-bogeying the 15th). For a team that has finished in the top three of every tournament this season, it looks like the Bruins can coast to the NCAA Championships from here.

Colorado

Outplaying their seed on Monday, the seventh-seeded Buffs are off to a roaring start in San Francisco and find themselves only looking up at UCLA. Tied for second with Kent State at 4-under, Colorado was led by Brittany Fan, who is in a tie for first at 6-under after going bogey-free in her opening round and notching an eagle on the ninth hole shoot a whopping 31 on the front nine. Kristy Hodges also shot under par, carding a 1-under 71 despite a bogey on 18. Great start for a team that has finished an agonizing seventh at each of the last two NCAA Regionals.

Stanford

Behind Andrea Lee's 6-under 66 that has her in a three-way tie for first, regional host Stanford is in a tie for fourth with Louisville and Oregon at 1-under (287) and two shots above the current cut line (San Diego State and North Carolina are tied for seventh at 1-over). While Emily Wang also had a solid day with a 71 (1-under), the rest of the Cardinal golfers shot 3-under or worse, with Albane Valenzuela's and Mika Lu's 3-over 75 efforts counting for the team score. On the bright side, Lee did not record a bogey or worse in her round of 66 on Monday.

Oregon

Locked up with Stanford and Louisville for fourth at 1-under, Oregon got solid efforts up and down the lineup for its team score of 287. With Madi Daniel's 80 not counting, Oregon was paced by Kathleen Scavo, who shot 2-under, carding birdies on two of her last three holes (the par-4 16 and 18) to get to 70. The junior Scavo is one of five Pac-12 golfers to be at least tied for fifth (there are nine who are tied for fifth or better, and the top four golfers are all Pac-12ers). It has been a rough season for Oregon, which had to battle its way through an injury-riddled season to somewhat sneak in the postseason as the No. 14 seed in its regional. So far, so good this week, however, as the Ducks look to make it to the NCAA Championships for the third straight season.

California

The Golden Bears are currently on the outside looking in after registering a 9-over 297 as a team that has them in a tie for 13th with Pepperdine. Currently 10 shots behind sixth, the Golden Bears got their lone under-par round from Marthe Wold, who was 3-under on the afternoon until a double-bogey on the par-5 ninth hole (her last of the round) knocked her down to a 1-under 71. Cal is making its 19th consecutive NCAA Regional appearance in large thanks to head coach Nancy McDaniel, whose battle with breast cancer was recently documented in the Cal Sports Quarterly.

Washington State

Though the Cougars didn't make it as a team to the Regionals, Alivia Brown got an individual berth and shot a 4-over 76 for her opening round, impressive considering she was 4-over after just three holes and was 6-over after 11 before getting birdies on 12 and 17 to close out her round with seven bogey-free holes. Brown is currently in a tie for 61st with fellow Pac-12 golfers Bethany Wu of UCLA, Alisha Lau of Colorado and Shannon Aubert of Stanford, among a handful of others.

 

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