Cowgirls to host regional at Karsten Creek, Sooners head to Albuquerque, TU’s Thomas selected

STILLWATER, Okla. —- No. 1-seeded Oklahoma State women’s golf is set to play host to the NCAA Stillwater Regional May 9-11 at Karsten Creek Golf Club. Spectators are welcome at the three-day event and there will be no admission charge. Parking is available along the road leading into the golf course.

In November, the NCAA had announced the move to a six-regional format effective with the spring championship. Each of the six regional sites will now feature 12 teams and six individuals, with the top four teams and top two individuals (not on an advancing team) qualifying for the championships, which will be held for the second-straight year at Grayhawk Golf Club (Raptor Course) in Scottsdale, Ariz., from May 20-25.

With the move to six regional sites from the previous four-site format, 72 teams will still qualify for regional play, with the number of individuals not on an advancing team increasing from 24 to 36.

THE FIELD

1. Oklahoma State (Host)
2. Arizona State
3. Baylor
4. Auburn
5. Michigan State
6. Clemson
7. Campbell
8. Furman
9. NC State
10. California
11. Tulane
12. Illinois State

THE FIELD – RANKED TEAMS

• According to GolfStat, Arizona State will be the second-highest ranked team in the field, behind No. 6 Oklahoma State, at No. 7. Baylor is currently ranked No. 16, while Auburn is at No. 19.
• According to Golfweek, Arizona State will head to the regional at No. 7 while Baylor is at No. 16. Auburn will come to Stillwater at No. 17 while Michigan State is at No. 32. Golfweek also has Clemson at No. 36 and Campbell at No. 47. OSU is at No. 6 in their poll, as well.

COURSE INFO

• Karsten Creek will play as a par-72, 6,303-yard course for the tournament.
• Karsten Creek was built for the OSU golf teams, and its purpose is to aid in the recruitment and development of future OSU stars. It was designed by Tom Fazio and honored as the Best New Public Course for 1994 by Golf Digest Magazine. It stretches over 7,400 yards with SR1020 bent-grass greens and zoysia fairways. All of the holes were carved from the native oak trees surrounding Lake Louise.
• In the May 1998 edition of Golf Digest, Karsten Creek Golf Club was awarded its first five-star rating, making the course one of 10 in the nation to be so honored.

COWGIRL POSTSEASON HISTORY

• This season mark’s Oklahoma State’s 28^th NCAA Regional appearance.
• The Cowgirls are set to compete to advance to their 23^rd NCAA Championship.
• OSU finished third last season in the NCAA Stanford Regional at 3-over 855. It was their first postseason appearance under head coach Greg Robertson.
• Oklahoma State’s return to the NCAA Championship last season was its first since 2016.
• The Cowgirls’ 22 NCAA Championship trips are tied for the 10^th most in the country and second only to Texas among Big 12 competition. OSU has seven top-5 finishes at NCAAs, including runner-up finishes in 2004 and 2021.

THE SEASON

• Oklahoma State opened the 2021-22 season with four-straight wins in the fall, marking the first time in program history it finished the fall season undefeated.
• OSU closed the regular season with a 109-13-1 (.890) record, including 25 wins over ranked opponents. The Cowgirls never finished a tournament outside the top-3, the first time it had done so since finishing first and second in the two tournaments in the 1973-74 season.
• The Cowgirls finished tied for second last week at the Big 12 Tournament.
• Senior Lianna Bailey was crowned the Big 12 Tournament’s individual champion.

OU women head to Albuquerque Regional as 9 seed

NORMAN – The Oklahoma women’s golf team has been selected to compete in the NCAA Albuquerque Regional May 9-11 at The Championship Course at UNM.

The Sooners are making their fifth consecutive regional appearance and 10th in the last 11 seasons under OU head women’s golf coach Veronique Drouin-Luttrell.

Oklahoma was selected as a No. 9 seed in the Albuquerque Regional. Fellow Big 12 foes Texas (No. 3) and TCU (No. 6) will also be making the trip to New Mexico and Oregon earned the No. 1 seed.

OU has advanced from the regional into the NCAA Championship four times since 2009, including three top-10 national finishes from 2012-2014.

The Sooners competed in the 2021 Columbus Regional and finished seventh. OU barely missed a chance to advance to the NCAA Championship, falling one spot behind and three strokes back of Kent State and Michigan.

Hannah Screen and Kaitlin Milligan led the Sooners in Columbus. Each fired a 4-over 220 and tied for 13th.

Screen, Mikhaela Fortuna, Libby Winans and Maria Fernanda Martinez all competed in last season’s regional.

Tulsa’s Lilly Thomas Gets NCAA Regional Invite

TULSA –– Tulsa Golden Hurricane golfer Lilly Thomas received an invitation to participate in the NCAA Stillwater Regional, as the NCAA announced today the 72 teams and 36 individuals for regional competition.NCAA Regional competition takes place May 9-11 with 12 teams and six individuals competing at each site.

Thomas, a junior from Bentonville, Ark., earned all-conference honors for the second consecutive season when she was named to the 15-member American Athletic Conference squad a day earlier. It’s her first appearance at the NCAA Regional Championship.

Last year, Tulsa made the LSU Regional Championship as a team, but the event had all three rounds rained out.

Thomas has registered five top-20 performances in 10 tournaments this season, including four top-5 finishes. She had a career-best second place showing at the Texas State Invitational with a 2-under par score of 214. Thomas also placed fifth at The Bruzzy, sixth at the Columbia Classic and seventh at the season-opening Samuel P. Golden Invitational.

In 30 rounds this season, Thomas has a team-best 72.7 stroke average and has tallied six sub-70 rounds.

The NCAA Championship is scheduled for May 20-25 at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz., as the top four teams and two individuals from each of the six regional sites will advance to the championship round.