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NCAA Women's Golf Regionals: 7 teams, 2 individuals advance to NCAA Championships

by Kevin Danna
May 9, 2018
Oregon State Athletics / @StanfordWGolf / @UCLAWomensGolf

Seven Pac-12 teams have punched their ticket to the NCAA Women's Golf Championships May 18-23 in Stillwater, Oklahoma by way of finishing in the top six in their regional sites- Stanford won the San Francisco Regional, while UCLA, Colorado, Arizona, Washington, USC and Arizona State also notched top-six finishes. Additionally, Oregon State's Nicole Schroeder qualified for the NCAA Championships as the individual medalist at the Madison Regional, while Cal's Marthe Wold booked a spot in Stillwater as a top-three individual from a non-qualifying NCAA Championships team. 

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

Arizona

The Wildcats continued their upward surge on Wednesday, going from 10th on Monday to sixth on Tuesday to finishing the Tallahassee Regional in fourth after a 6-under 282 as a team on Wednesday that landed them at 11-under after 54 holes. This marks the fifth time in the last six years that head coach Laura Ianello and the Wildcats have advanced to the NCAA Championships.

Arizona got four under-par rounds to count towards the team score on Wednesday, and Haley Moore led the way with a 3-under 69. YuSang Hou and Gigi Stoll were the low Wildcats for the regional, as each golfer shot 4-under and finished tied for 14th. Meanwhile, Bianca Pagdanganan was not far behind at 3-under (tied for 16th).

Washington

Washington is off to its third NCAA Championships in the last four years after finishing fifth in Tallahassee. The Dawgs posted higher scores each day, culminating in a 4-over 292 on Wednesday, but the Huskies still finished 10-under for the regional, five strokes ahead of the cut line.

Rino Sasaki was the bright spot in the lineup for the Dawgs in the third round, playing bogey-free golf to the tune of a 4-under 68. Sarah Rhee notched a top-10 finish by registering an 8-under for the regional (good for eighth), while Wenyung Keh, she of program-record 63 fame on Monday, finished the regional in a tie for 25th at even par.

Alabama, Florida State, Furman and Wake Forest will join Arizona and Washington in the NCAA Championships from the Tallahassee Regional.

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

USC

The Trojans stayed steady in third throughout the whole regional, finishing behind Duke (14-under) and Virginia (5-under) to clinch its 21st consecutive appearance at the NCAA Championships. The three-time national champions finished at 2-under for their 54-hole jaunt in Wisconsin and were led by Jennifer Chang, who carded a 4-under 68 on Wednesday to finish the regional in sixth place at 5-under. Allisen Corpuz also finished her three rounds under par in a tie for 11th at 1-under.

Arizona State

Not far behind the Trojans were the 2017 national champion Sun Devils, who wound up in a tie for fourth with THE Ohio State University at 1-under. Roberta Liti was the low Sun Devil for the day and the regional as her Wednesday score of 71 got her to 3-under for the regional, good for a tie for seventh. Liti shot even par or better every day, the only Sun Devil to do so. Arizona State is on to the NCAA Championships for the second straight year after not qualifying for the finals in 2015 and 2016.

Oregon State

Here's the good news for Oregon State – Nicole Schroeder shot even par on Wednesday to win individual medalist honors in the Madison Regional with a three-round score of 206 (10-under). However, the Beavers had to count a 75 and a 76 towards their team total on Wednesday and shot 6-over on the final 18 holes as a group, landing them below the cut line in eighth place with a 4-over for the regional. OSU, four shots behind sixth-place Northwestern and two behind seventh-place Illinois, had one player bogey three of her last four holes and two others bogey two of their last three to drop out of contention. While the Beavs narrowly missed out on their second-ever NCAA Championships appearance as a team, Schroeder will make the trip to Stillwater as one of the top three individuals on a non-qualifying team from the Madison Regional.

Duke, Virginia, Ohio State and Northwestern also advanced to the NCAA Championships alongside USC and Arizona State from the Madison Regional.

San Francisco Regional- TPC Harding (Hosted by Stanford)

Stanford

The Cardinal won the San Francisco Regional after firing a Wednesday-best 6-under 282 as a team to get to 8-under through 54 holes, four shots clear of UCLA for first. Emily Wang finished one shot off the lead in second place at 7-under, battling back from a double-bogey on the first hole to shoot 69 in her final round. Also shooting 3-under on the day was Mika Liu, who was the only Cardinal golfer to play a bogey-free 18 holes on Wednesday. Andrea Lee joined Wang in the top 10 by checking in at 3-under (tied for eighth), while Albane Valenzuela put together a 1-under 71 in her final round. 

This is the eighth straight year that Stanford has advanced to the NCAA Championships.

UCLA

UCLA put forth a much better Wednesday, improving upon its Tuesday round by 10 strokes to shoot 3-under as a team in the final round and 4-under overall. Moving up from third to second place to firmly secure an NCAA Championships berth, UCLA was paced by individual medalist Patty Tavatanakit, who topped the player leaderboard at TPC Harding Park at 8-under, one shot clear of Stanford's Emily Wang. Tavatanakit bounced back from a Tuesday 73 to rip a Wednesday 67, jumping up from fourth to first.

Mariel Galdiano also had a great final round, carding a 3-under 69 on Wednesday to get into a tie for third at 6-under for the regional. UCLA is headed back to the NCAA Championships after a rare-miss in 2017.

Colorado

How 'bout dem Buffs?! Colorado got out to a scorching-hot start and snuck back into sixth place after Oklahoma State went 2-over as a team on the 18th hole to drop out of NCAA Championships contention. That cleared up a spot in Stillwater for Colorado, which is making its second NCAA Championships appearance in program history and first since 2012.

Colorado went 8-under on the front nine as a team, but Brittany Fan was the only Buff to register a birdie on the back nine. It was still good enough for the Buffs to shoot 1-under for the round and 5-over for the regional, one shot better than Oklahoma State and San Diego State. Fan finished 5-under for the regional and 2-under for Wednesday, while Robyn Choi was the low Buff of the day at 69. Kristy Hodgkins also had an under-par round (71) to help the Buffs' cause. Ole Miss, Louisville and Kent State join Stanford, UCLA and Colorado to advance out of the San Francisco Regional to the NCAA Championships.

California

The Golden Bears wound up in 12th place after posting a 3-over 291 in their final round, a bump up of one spot from their Tuesday positioning. The Golden Bears improved each day, registering a 297 on Monday and 292 on Tuesday before Wednesday's 291. While Cal's team season is done, Marthe Wold is advancing to the NCAA Championships after finishing one shot off the lead at 6-under. Wold was 3-under for her final round to post her third consecutive under-par round.

Oregon

Rough Wednesday on the course for Oregon, which dropped all the way from tied for fourth to 14th after shooting 20-over as a team on Wednesday. Not one Duck broke even par, and there was just one birdie and one eagle for the whole team combined. Kathleen Scavo had the best day for the Ducks with a 4-over 76 and finished the tournament 1-over.

Washington State

Washington State's Alivia Brown shot 74 on Wednesday, making the senior 6-over for the regional to wrap up her collegiate career.

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