The NCAA Division I women’s golf regionals wrapped up Wednesday at four sites across the country: Tumble Creek Club in Cle Elum, Wash., Forest Akers West Golf Course in Lansing, Mich., Jimmie Austin OU Golf Club in Norman, Okla., and Saugahatchee Country Club in Opelika, Ala.
The top six teams and the top three individuals not on advancing teams in each regional moved on to the NCAA Championship, which begins May 17 at Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, Ark.
Amazingly, there were no playoffs to decide team or individual NCAA berths. Also, for the fourth time in five years of the four-regional era exactly 17 top-6 seeds advanced.
Here is everything you need to know from a pressure-packed final day:
NCAA Auburn Regional
Moving on: 1. Vanderbilt (-4), 2. Florida State (-1), 3. Duke (+4), 4. Virginia (+9), 5. Auburn (+10), 6. Tennessee (+12)
Just missed: 7. Maryland (+15), 8. East Carolina (+18), 9. Furman (+22)
Medalist: Auston Kim, Vanderbilt (-6)
Advancing individuals: Linette Holmslykke, Murray State (-5); Virunpat Olankitkunchai, Maryland (-3); Angelica Moresco, Alabama (-1)
Story of the day: Vanderbilt. For the first time since 2014, the Commodores are headed to the NCAA Championship. Before that, they had reached the finals in five straight years, including finished seventh in 2010. The No. 2 seed shot 8-under 280 to jump two spots and win the regional. Freshman Auston Kim took medalist honors, using four straight birdies at Nos. 3-6 to shoot 2-under 70 and win by a shot over Murray State’s Linette Holmslykke. Kim did something Wednesday that her older sister August, who played four years at Purdue, never did – win a regional title – though August finished T-13 or better three times. Sophomore Morgan Baxendale shot 67 to wrap up a T-3 finish and No. 1 player Abbey Carlson tied for 23rd after her best round of the week, a 72.
Notable nuggets: The top five seeds moved on, but Furman, the sixth seed, finished ninth. Had the Paladins advanced, it would’ve marked the first time since the inception of this current regional format, in 2015, that the top six seeds moved on in a single regional. … For the second time since 2015, the top five seeds all advanced out of a regional. … Florida State shot 5 under as freshman standout Frida Kinhult got back on track with a 4-under 68 to finish T-13. All five Seminoles finished in the top 25. … Jaravee Boonchant tied for third to lead top-seeded Duke to a third-place finish. … Virginia is now headed to its 11th NCAA Championship in 16 years. ... Host Auburn fought itself off the cut line to place fifth. No. 5 player Elena Hualde led the way with a T-8 finish. … Tennessee, the 11th seed, booked its final ticket for the first time since 2016. The Vols finished T-5 in 2015. … East Carolina’s bid to qualify for its first NCAA Championship ended with a closing 8-over 296. The Pirates, who a year ago were disqualified from regionals after three players became ill with a virus, were in fifth after 36 holes. … Alabama’s season ended with a 10th-place finish. The Tide were the top-ranked team in the country early in the fall before losing Kristen Gillman and Lauren Stephenson to the pros.
NCAA East Lansing Regional
Moving on: 1. Kent State (-4), 2. Arizona (-3), 3. UCLA (+10), 4. Stanford (+14), 5. Illinois (+18), 6. Indiana (+19)
Just missed: 7. Michigan State (+22), 8. Campbell (+26), 8. Baylor (+26)
Medalist: Patty Tavatanakit, UCLA (-8)
Advancing individuals: Haylin Harris, Michigan State (-3); Mikayla Fitzpatrick, Xavier (E); Allyson Geer-Park, Michigan State (+2)
Story of the day: Indiana. The Hoosiers, at 55th in the Golfstat rankings, were the last at-large team into regionals. Now, they are headed to the NCAA Championship for the first time since 2007. Indiana also became just the third 14 seed ever to make it through regionals. Erin Harper tied for 11th at 2 over to lead the Hoosiers, followed by Kari Bellville (T-19) and Priscilla Schmid (T-27). “We’ve been poised to be there and it’s great to finally get the reward for all the hard work,” Indiana head coach Clint Wallman said. "... It elevates Indiana golf and puts us on the map a bit more.”
Notable nuggets: Illinois, the seventh seed, advanced to its first NCAA Championship, a year after missing out by a spot. … Kent State, which has made match play in each of the past two NCAA Championships, and Arizona, the reigning national champion, each wrapped up regional play with 1-under 287s. … Sophomore Patty Tavatanakit won her second straight regional title to lead the Bruins to a third-place finish. Tavatanakit had struggled this spring with three finishes outside of the top 20. … Top-seeded Stanford was T-8 after the first day, but the Cardinal rallied to finish fourth despite placing no players in the top 20. … Fifth seed Michigan State finished seventh at Forest Akers, where they last hosted a regional in 2002. The Spartans finished eighth that year.
NCAA Norman Regional
Moving on: 1. Texas (-9), 2. Florida (E), 2. Wake Forest (E), 4. Purdue (+2), 5. Arizona State (+4), 6. Ole Miss (+7)
Just missed: 7. Texas Tech (+10), 8. Oklahoma (+12), 9. North Carolina State (+17), 9. Mississippi State (+17)
Medalists: Olivia Mehaffey, Arizona State, and Kaitlin Milligan, Oklahoma (-8)
Advancing individuals: Milligan; Michaela Fletcher, Memphis (-5); Amanda Hollandsworth, Virginia Tech (-3)
Story of the day: Ole Miss. The magic continues for the ninth-seeded Rebels, fresh off their first SEC title and just a year removed from their first NCAA Championship appearance. Ole Miss is headed back to the finals again after shooting 2-over 290 and edging Texas Tech by three shots at 7 over. No Rebels players finished better than T-27, but three of them – Julia Johnson, Conner Beth Ball and SEC hero Macy Somoskey – shot 72s on Wednesday.
Notable nuggets: Texas followed its third straight Big 12 title with a nine-shot regional victory as the top seed. … Led by Elin Esborn’s T-5 finish (she was fifth on the team in scoring average entering this week), Florida tied for second with Wake Forest, which had won three straight events and got T-15 finishes from Jennifer Kupcho and Emilia Migliaccio. … Arizona State, the 2017 NCAA champion, survived a 14-over showing from Raquel Olmos to finish fifth and make the finals for a third straight year after missing out in 2015 and ’16. … Texas Tech slipped up midway through the final round and shot 5 over to fall out of a tie for sixth entering the day. … Oklahoma joined Michigan State as hosts to not advance out of regionals this year. … North Carolina State was second, just a shot back, after 18 holes before shooting 20 over in the final 36 holes and finishing T-9.
NCAA Cle Elum Regional
Moving on: 1. USC (-20), 2. Washington (-5), 3. Northwestern (E), 4. Arkansas (+5), 5. San Jose State (+8), 6. UCF (+10)
Just missed: 7. Ohio State (+11), 8. Oregon State (+13), 9. Oregon (+15), 10. South Carolina (+17), 11. Iowa State (+18)
Medalist: Jennifer Chang, USC (-11)
Advancing individuals: Kathleen Scavo, Oregon (-7); Aneka Seumanutafa, Ohio State (-5); Ellie Slama, Oregon State (-3)
Story of the day: UCF. The 13th-seeded Knights advanced to their second NCAA Championship – and first since 1996 – by shooting 2-under 286 to stay in sixth and earn the last ticket out of this regional. UCF’s top player, freshman Elizabeth Moon, tied for 40th at 6 over, but she was able to close with a 2-under 70. Ana Laura Collado, who had just two top-20 finishes this season before this week, tied for second after a closing 68 left her at 10 under.
Notable nuggets: No. 14 seed Ohio State made a valiant charge, its counting scorers combining to play the final five holes in 8 under, but the Buckeyes finished a shot shy of forcing a playoff. … Top-ranked USC won for the seventh time this season, finishing 15 shots clear of the field and placing four players inside the top 15, including medalist Jennifer Chang. The Trojans have now won 13 regional titles and advanced to 22 straight NCAA Championships. … Host Washington placed second after firing a 7-under 281 in the final round. … Northwestern tied USC for the best final round, at 10 under, to climb two spots to third. The Wildcats, who got a 7-under 65 from Brooke Riley on Wednesday, have advanced to match play at the NCAA Championship in each of the past two seasons, including losing in the final two years ago to Arizona State. … Arkansas is headed home to host the finals after placing fourth despite a 21-over performance from Dylan Kim. Senior Maria Fassi tied for fifth. … San Jose State was fifth as its head coach, Dana Dormann, will now have to withdraw from another tournament. She qualified for the U.S. Senior Women’s Open, but those dates overlap with the NCAA Championship. … Third-seeded South Carolina finished 10th and were the lowest seed to not advance out of regionals this season.
