Bouraeda Selected To NCAA Regional
NDIANAPOLIS — Colorado women's golfer Malak Bouraeda was one of 24 individuals selected to the 2021 NCAA Women's Golf Regionals on Wednesday.
The junior will represent CU at the Baton Rouge Regional, hosted by Louisiana State University, May 10-12 at University Club in Baton Rouge, La.
"This is a huge honor and I'm very excited to continue to represent our team," Bouraeda said following the announcement. "I'll be missing my teammates for sure but knowing they're cheering me on at home is pretty special. I'm very excited to make it to the postseason and hope to make everyone at home proud. I'm excited to see how we grow as a team and get better and hopefully, we'll be at a regional site all together next year!"
This is Bouraeda's first NCAA Regional appearance but she continues Colorado's streak of having either an individual or team compete at regionals since 2011. The Buffs qualified as a team in 2011 and '12. Then in 2013, Jenny Coleman was selected as an individual. Colorado then made five straight appearances (2014-18). Kirsty Hodgkins competed as an individual at regionals in 2019. There was no tournament in 2020 due to the pandemic.
"We are certainly very proud and happy for Malak for qualifying as an individual to the NCAA regional," head coach Anne Kelly said. "Of course we'd all prefer to go as a team but we simply did not play well enough to qualify this year, close but not quite good enough. This will be great experience for Malak and inspiration for the rest of the team for next year. The LSU course is very challenging and I think it will set up well for Malak's game."
Bouraeda was CU's top finisher in four of its seven tournaments this spring and was named to the All-Pac-12 Honorable Mention team following the conference championship on April 25. She led the team this spring with a 74.05 stroke average, which is currently the fifth-best ever by a CU junior. Bouraeda earned four top-20 finishes this year, which included one top-five finish when she tied for fifth at the Lamkin Invitational. She also recorded a 220 or better on four occasions this season and recorded a team-best 68 birdies.
Each regional site consists of 18 teams and six individuals. The top six teams and three individuals from non-qualifying teams advance to the national championships.
The NCAA Women's Golf Championships will be May 21-26 at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz. hosted by Arizona State and The Thunderbirds. The final three days of the championships will be televised live by the GOLF Channel.