Top seeds Arizona, Duke join Cowgirls in South Bend Regional
Oklahoma State’s women’s golf team will be back in action at the South Bend Regional this week in Notre Dame, Ind. The tournament will be contested at Warren Golf Course, named for donor Bill Warren, whose family founded Saint Francis Hospital in Tulsa. The course is a par-72, 6,301-yard layout. The Cowgirls will be the No. 3 seed in the 18-team field, which will play 54 holes over three days beginning with Thursday’s first round and concluding with Saturday’s third round.
Among those joining the Cowgirls in South Bend will be top-seeded Arizona and No. 2 seed Duke. Wake Forest will be the No. 4 seed, while UC Davis rounds out the top five. Six teams and three individuals will advance to the national championship, which will be conducted May 22-27 at The Concession Golf Club in Bradenton, Fla.
The Cowgirls will be grouped with Arizona and Duke for their first round and will begin play at 8:39 a.m. (CST). Teams will be regrouped for the second and third rounds according to score. Live scoring for the event can be found at golfstat.com.
The Lineup
The Cowgirl lineup will consist of two sophomores and three freshmen with freshman Kenzie Neisen, the newly crowned Big 12 champion, leading the way. Four Cowgirls enter play ranked in the top 100 in the Golfweek/Sagarin Rankings. Freshman Maddie McCrary, who is fresh off a start at the LPGA’s Volunteers of America NorthTexas Shootout, checks in at No. 47, while Neisen comes in at No. 62. Sophomore Linnea Johansson is ranked 68th, while freshman Emma Broze is No. 98 in thelatest rankings. Sophomore Isabella Deilert enters play ranked No. 183.
OSU In NCAA Regional Play
The Cowgirls are competing in their 23rd consecutive NCAA regional, and have advanced to theNCAA Championships 11 of the last 14 years through regional play. The Cowgirls have finished in the top five in seven of their last 10 regional appearances and 10 of their last 14. OSU claimed its first-ever regional title in 2007 at the Entrada at Snow Canyon Country Club in St. George, Utah. The Cowgirls have a pair of regional medalists in Charlotta Eliasson (1994) and Pernilla Lindberg (2007).
OSU At Warren Golf Course
The Cowgirls competed at the 2011 NCAA Central Regional at Warren Golf Course. OSU posted a 937 total and finished in 17th place. The top finisher in the Cowgirl lineup was then-freshman Jayde Panos, who posted a 228 tally to tie for 34th place.
Last Time Out
Kenzie Neisen became the eighth Cowgirl to claim Big 12 medalist honors and the first since Caroline Hedwall in 2010, winning a two-hole playoff at the Big 12 Championship at The Dominion Country Club on April 26th. The Cowgirls closed with a 12-over 300 to finish at 20-over 884 and in fifth place in the team race. Baylor finished with a 3-over 867 tally to post a 12-shot victory at the par-72, 6,246-yard layout. Neisen closed with a 73 to finish at 4-under 212 and tied with Baylor’s Laura Lonardi. After both players recorded pars at the par-4 first hole, the OSU freshman defeated Lonardi on the second playoff hole after recording a birdie at the par-5 ninth. Linnea Johansson posted the squad’s low round of the day with a 70 to join Neisen in the top 10. The sophomore finished alone in ninth place at 219 and her top-10 showing earned her a spot on theall-tournament squad.
Regional Rewind … 2014 NCAA Central Regional
The Cowgirls came up just short of securing a berth at the NCAA Championship, falling on the first playoff hole to Florida at Karsten Creek in NCAA Central Regional action. The Cowgirls and Gators tied for eighth place at 902, 38-over par, to force the playoff for the regional’s final qualifying spot. The two teams returned to the 10th hole where Florida counted three pars and a bogey to advance. OSU started the day tied for eighth before posting its 306 score. Isabella Deilert was the Cowgirls’ top finisher, closing with a 73 to finish at 2-over 218 and tied for seventh place.