NCAA regionals kick off Thursday for nine Pac-12 women's golf teams

WALNUT CREEK, Calif. -- Nine Pac-12 schools are amongst the 72 teams that will compete at the 2014 NCAA Women’s Golf Regionals, with play beginning Thursday, May 8 and completing on Saturday, May 10. Pac-12 teams will travel to a total of three regional tournament sites, with USC and UCLA representing the Conference as number one seeds at two of the sites.  

 

Four Pac-12 teams, including host and No. 4 seed WASHINGTON, will participate in the West Regional at Tumble Creek Club at Suncadia Resort in Cle Elum, Wash. The Huskies are coming off a sixth-place finish at the Pac-12 Championships, which took place in Corvallis, Ore. April 25-27. 

 

The defending NCAA National Champion, USC, earned the No. 1 seed while boasting many talented student-athletes that could help them make a run at a second-consecutive national title. The squad is headlined by reigning NCAA Individual Champion Annie Park, who won the title as a freshman in 2013.  

 

ARIZONA STATE received the No. 2 spot at the Western Regional and is lead by junior Noemi Jimenez, who is currently ranked fourth in the nation by GolfStat. The Sun Devils are notorious for success in the postseason and lead the NCAA record books with seven National Championships.

 

Final Pac-12 representation in the West Region will be No. 11 OREGON. The Ducks will look to junior Cassy Isagawa and freshman Cathleen Santoso to lead the team as they head up north this weekend.

 

UCLA is the number one seed in the central region, which will be played at Karsten Creek Golf Club in Stillwater, Oklahoma. The Bruins will be led by Pac-12 Champion Alison Lee, who became the fourth-consecutive freshman to earn the individual title at the Conference championships. UCLA tied for second with ARIZONA in the Pac-12 team Championship. The Wildcats’ Lindsey Weaver shot an impressive -2 under par, 214 en route to becoming the runner-up finisher behind Lee.  

 

Also joining the Central region is CALIFORNIA, which earned a 12 seed at the site. Senior Nicola Rossler will set the tone for the Bears as she enters her last NCAA regional with a career 74.2 scoring average.

 

No. 17 COLORADO is headed to Oklahoma under the senior leadership of the Coleman sisters. Jenny Coleman’s seven top-five finishes tying for second-best all-time at Colorado. 

 

STANFORD earned the Conference’s automatic qualifier with its 1-stroke victory at the 2014 Pac-12 Championship. It was the program’s first Pac-12 team title since 1999. The Cardinal enters regionals as the third seed and is the sole Pac-12 representative playing at the SouthWood Golf Club in Tallahassee, Fla. in the East Regional. 

 

A total of 378 participants will compete in regional competition over the weekend. Of these players, 126 will advance to the championships finals. Eight teams and two individuals will advance from each regional. The championships finals will be held May 20-23 at Tulsa Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma and will be co-hosted by Tulsa and the Tulsa Sports Commission.

 

To follow the 2014 NCAA women’s golf championships, visit www.ncaa.com.