Bruins in Kentucky for NCAA Regionals
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SIMPSONVILLE, Ky. - The Bruins begin play at the NCAA Louisville Regional on Monday, looking to finish inside the Top 6 and advance to the NCAA Championships. The 54-hole event runs from Monday through Wednesday at the par-72, 6,289-yard University of Louisville Golf Club.
The starting fivesome for the Bruins will be junior Simar Singh and sophomores Emilie Paltrinieri, Simar Singh, Emma Spitz and Annabel Wilson. UCLA begins the opening round on Monday at 8:50 a.m. ET/5:50 a.m. PT in the order of Yoshihara, Paltrinieri, Singh, Spitz and Wilson. Live scoring will be available here.
Joining the 25th-ranked Bruins in the 18-team field at the Louisville Regional are No. 1 South Carolina, No. 8 Florida State, No. 9 Auburn, No. 16 Texas, No. 17 Arkansas, No. 23 Texas Tech, No. 32 Michigan State, No. 34 UCF, No. 39 Tennessee, No. 41 North Florida, No. 48 Louisville, No. 51 UTSA, No. 56 Mercer, No. 58 Charleston, No. 96 Xavier, No. 118 James Madison and No. 197 Fairleigh Dickinson (Golfstat rankings as of April 28).
A total of 72 teams made the NCAA Regionals at four different sites in Baton Rouge, La., Columbus, Ohio, Simpsonville, Ky. and Stanford, Calif. The top six teams from each Regional (54 holes of stroke play) will advance to the NCAA Championships at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz. (May 21-26).
The Bruins tied for fifth at the Pac-12 Championship (April 23-25, +23, 875) after ending the regular season with their best full-field finish of the season, a second-place showing at the Silverado Showdown (April 5-7, +4, 868). Having played in seven tournaments this season, UCLA also finished second in The Match in the Desert (Jan. 24-25, +15, 591), tied for second at the Lamkin Invitational (Feb. 8-9, +40, 904), fifth at the Sun Devil Winter Classic (Feb. 15-17, +23, 887), sixth at the Bruin Wave Invitational (March 1-3, +75, 939) and 11th at the PING/ASU Invitational (March 26-287, +18, 862).
Wilson is second on the team with four Top 10s, coming into Regionals on a hot streak with a T-2 showing at the PING/ASU (-4, 212), a T-5 finish at Silverado (E, 216) and a T-7 at Pac-12s (-1, 212). Wilson finished Pac-12s with a 1-under 70 and a season-low, 3-under 68 to give her six under-par rounds on the season. She opened and closed the PING/ASU with 2-under 70s and wrapped up the Silverado Showdown with another 2-under 70. Wilson also tied for seventh at The Match (+4, 148), shooting a 2-under 70 and tied for 11th at the Sun Devil Classic (+3, 219). Her 73.9 scoring average is second on the team.
Spitz has been the top finisher for the Bruins in five of seven events, with all of those being in the Top 4. Spitz began Pac-12s with back-to-back, 3-under 68s (season lows), finishing in a tie for 10th (+1, 214). She was second at the Sun Devil Winter Classic (-6, 210) thanks to three under-par rounds, including an opening, 3-under 69. Spitz tied for second at the Lamkin Invitational (-1, 215), shooting a pair of 2-under 70s, tied for third The Match in the Desert (E, 144) and the Silverado Showdown (-2, 214) and was solo fourth at the Bruin Wave Invitational (+7, 223). Spitz also tied for third at the Augusta National Women's Amateur. She holds a 72.2 scoring average, with 11 of her 20 rounds being under par.
Singh recorded her best full-field showing at the Pac-12 Championship (+12, 225), tying for 27th, including an opening, 1-over 72. She tied for 31st at the Silverado Showdown (+11, 227), ending the tournament with a 1-over 73. Singh was also 33rd at the Lamkin Invitational (+20, 236) and 48th at the Sun Devil Winter Classic (+20, 236), posting a 1-over 73 in the second round of the latter event.
Paltrinieri, who like Spitz made the cut at the Augusta National Women's Amateur, had a pair of under-par rounds at the PING/ASU Invitational (+1, 217), shooting a 1-under 71 and a 2-under 70 before tying for 17th. Her season-best finish in a full-field event was a T-10 at the Lamkin Invitational (+9, 225), while she also tied for seventh at The Match (+4, 148), opening with a 2-under 70. Paltrinieri tied for 38th at Pac-12s (+16, 229).
Yoshihara tied for third at Silverado, her best collegiate start, posting a 54-hole score of 2-under 214. She opened with a 2-under 70 and shot back-to-back, even-par 72s to finish the event. Yoshihara's first tournament of the season was a T-12 at the Bruin Wave (+16, 232), as she also tied for 42nd at Pac-12s (+17, 230) and tied for 64th at the PING/ASU (+13, 229).