Cowgirls, Hurricane, Sooners in hunt for NCAA Championship berths

Four Cowgirls shot par or better in Monday’s opening round to lift  Oklahoma State into sole possession of second place out of 12 teams at the NCAA Gold Canyon Regional.

Oklahoma State (-1, 287) is currently one shot back of the leader, No. 8 Arizona State, and 13 strokes ahead of sixth-place Navy. The top five teams advance to the NCAA Championship in Carlsbad, Calif.

“It was a good, solid round from the team today,” head coach Greg Robertson said. “The firm greens made it challenging, but they did a nice job of managing themselves around the course. It was nice to see some birdies coming down the last four or five holes to get us in the position we’re in.”

Oklahoma State, as it has done all season, took advantage of the longer holes, ending the day in a tie with Mississippi State for the best par 5 scoring average (4.75, 5-under).

Sophomore Ellie Bushnell helped contribute to that number with an eagle on the 520-yard second hole. The Californian ended the day at 1-under par and tied for seventh place on the individual leaderboard.

Three other Cowgirls — Summer Lee, Grace Kilcrease and Marta Silchenko — finished at even par (72) and tied for 11th place. Lee’s score was the third lowest of the day by a freshman.

Tarapath Panya finished up day one with a score of 6-over (78).

The Cowgirls will return to action Tuesday morning with tee times going off after 10 a.m. CT.

Tulsa is tied for fifth place after the first 36 holes of the NCAA Norman Regional. The Golden Hurricane battled back in the second round and shot 2-under par to climb into a tie for fifth.

Sitting just outside fifth place, Tulsa’s Jenni Roller birdied the final three holes of her second round to bring the Golden Hurricane into a tie for fifth. With 18 holes to play, Tulsa and the field are playing for a top-five finish in the regional to advance to the NCAA Championship.

Leading the Norman Regional is No. 1 Stanford. The Cardinal shot rounds of 276-284=560 for the 36 holes and are 16 under par. They lead No. 12 Northwestern by five strokes. To view the complete leaderboard, click here.

After closing out her second 18 with three straight birdies, Roller leads the Golden Hurricane after the first day of action. Roller shot a round of 2-over par 74 in the first 18 and followed it up with a round of  71 to close out the day. She is tied for 21st.

Tied for 25th place after the first day of action in Lovisa Gunnar. Like Roller, Gunnar shot 74-72 and is 2-over.

The rules committee will meet Tuesday morning to assess the weather, with inclement weather forecasted for Tuesday. If play can happen on Tuesday, tee times would not begin before 1 p.m. An update will be shared on Tuesday morning. The committee will review the forecast for Tuesday and Wednesday before deciding.

Oklahoma (7, +3) is aiming to return to the NCAA Championship for the first time since 2018 and the ninth time in program history. Senior Reagan Chaney (T14, E) leads the Sooners in their pursuit, staying even through 36 holes by way of 75-69 rounds. She is tied for 14th overall and tallied a team-best five birdies in the second round.

Junior Savannah Barber (T25, +2) follows in the top 25. She opened with a 71, the only under-par round for the Sooners in round one. A pair of double bogeys in the second round led to a 75.

Juniors Gracie Mayo (T32, +3) and MaKayla Tyrrell (T32, +3), along with freshman Audrey Rischer (T32, +3), are tied for 32nd after two rounds. Mayo and Rischer posted strong second rounds of 71 and 70, respectively, while Tyrrell fired an even-par 72 in the opening round to stay in contention.

Norman Regional

TEAM SCORES

TULSA SCORES
T21. Jenni Roller          74-71=145 (+1)
T25. Lovisa Gunnar          74-72=146 (+2)
T39. Sydney Seigel            73-75=148 (+4)
T39. Romaine Masserey    80-68=148 (+4)
T48. Allyn Stephens            71-80=151 (+7)

Gold Canyon Regional

Team Leaderboards:
1. Arizona State (-2) — 286
2. Oklahoma State (-1) — 287
3. Auburn (+1) — 289
3. Oregon (+1) — 289
5. Mississippi State (+3) — 291
6. Navy (+11) — 299
7. California (+15) — 303
8. Virginia Tech (+16) — 304
8. CSU Fullerton (+16) — 304
10. San Jose State (+18) — 306
11. Sacramento State (+19) — 307
12. Quinnipiac (+34) — 322

Individual Leaderboard: 
7. Ellie Bushnell (-1) — 71
11. Summer Lee (E) — 72
11. Grace Kilcrease (E) — 72
11. Marta Silchenko (E) — 72
47. Tarapath Panya (+6) — 78