Women's Golf Earns Bid To NCAA Regionals
BOULDER - The University of Colorado women's golf team has been selected to participate in the 2015 NCAA Division I Golf Regionals. The 36th-ranked Buffaloes were placed into the St. George Region as the No. 9 seed.
Colorado is one of 18 teams who will compete at Entrada at Snow Canyon Country Club in St. George, Utah, May 7-9. Six individuals from teams not selected will also join the field. CU's bid marks the fifth consecutive year the Buffs have sent either a team or an individual to the regionals. There were 43 at-large bids awarded as part of the 72-team field.
"I think we all had a pretty good idea that we were going, but it's always nice to see your name up on that screen," said Colorado head coach Anne Kelly. The qualifying schools were announced on Monday evening during a special selection show televised on the Golf Channel. "It's a great field like all of the regions are and it's a tough region. We're going to have to build on what we did at Pac-12s and at least play at that level or a little better I think to make it through."
The Buffs' region includes fellow Pac-12 opponents Southern California, Stanford and California along with an individual from Washington State, Alivia Brown. All 11 Pac-12 women's golf programs will be represented at regionals (nine teams and two individuals). UCLA, Washington, Arizona State, Oregon and Oregon State individual, Anica Yoo are part of the San Antonio Region and 2015 Pac-12 Champion Arizona is the top seed in the South Bend Region.
This is the fifth time the Buffs have advanced as a team with their first appearance coming in 2008-09. Colorado has some history playing at Entrada, last competing there during the 2009-10 season in the Brigham Young University Dixie Classic. BYU will serve as the host school of the St. George Region.
"It's a really good golf course," Kelly added. "It's visually intimidating because it has a lot of lava rock, but it's a great course."
The Buffs will look to carry some of its momentum from the Pac-12 Championships into the 54-hole, three-day meet. Colorado is coming off a school best fifth place finish in the Pac-12s held last week at the Boulder Country Club. As a team, CU posted an 868 (296-289-283) or 16-over par final score on the par 71 course, which is the program's best postseason performance and fifth best overall. The Buffs were paced by junior Alexis Keating, who shot a school record 5-under par 66 in the final round en route to a fifth place finish, tallying a 3-under par 210 (72-72-66) for the tournament.
The top six teams and three individuals (not on those teams) from each of the four regions (Raleigh, South Bend, San Antonio) advance to the NCAA Women's Golf Championships, set for May 22-27 at Concession Golf Club in Bradenton, Fla.