Bears Earn NCAA Regional Bid

The Cal women's golf team earned a berth in the 2022 NCAA Championships on Wednesday and will take part in the Stillwater Regional hosted by Oklahoma State University.

The Bears were given the No. 10 seed in the 12-team regional, which runs May 9-11 at Karsten Creek Golf Club. The top four teams in the regional advance to the NCAA Finals in Scottsdale, Arizona on May 20-25.

"It was very exciting to hear our name called," Cal head coach Nancy McDaniel said. "I don't think we've played our best golf yet, and that's certainly the way you want it heading into regionals. We've played a lot of really good, quality courses this season, and we planned it that way. So the experience is there."

This marks Cal's 21st NCAA regional appearance. The Bears have qualified for a regional every year since 2000 except for 2021. The regionals weren't contested in 2020 due to COVID-19.

Cal has advanced to the NCAA Finals in four of the past eight years.

"Cal golf goes to regionals," McDaniel said. "This is a team and program that prides itself on that. This is a step in the right direction. We certainly want to take bigger steps, but just taking that step in the right direction pays huge dividends."

The Bears have been hampered by injuries this season but look to be at full strength heading into regionals. Senior Katherine Zhu and sophomore Mika Jin are tied for the team lead with a 74.1 scoring average. Both have three top-20 finishes this season.

Zhu and fellow senior Elena Arias are the only two players on the roster with NCAA experience. They both competed at the Auburn Regional in 2019.

Oklahoma State is the No. 1 seed in the regional followed by Pac-12 counterpart Arizona State. There are four teams headed for Stillwater that are ranked in the current GolfStat top-25.

 
NCAA STILLWATER REGIONAL
1. Oklahoma State
2. Arizona State
3. Baylor
4. Auburn
5. Michigan State
6. Clemson
7. Campbell
8. Furman
9. North Carolina State
10. Cal
11. Tulane
12. Illinois State