April 28, 2014
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – For the seventh consecutive year, the University of Notre Dame women’s golf team is headed to the NCAA regional championship. The Fighting Irish will be part of the NCAA West Regional that will play its three-day tournament (May 8-10) at Tumble Creek Club at Suncadia Resort in Cle Elum, Wash. The 72-team field was announced on Monday evening (April 28).
Notre Dame earned an at-large bid and is among nine Atlantic Coast Conference teams in this year’s field. In its first season as a member of the ACC, the Irish tied for fifth in the conference championship. Notre Dame is the 18th seed in the West region and will be joined by two other ACC members, Clemson and Wake Forest, who earned the No. 5 and No. 6 seeds, respectively.
“One of our goals every year is to have a chance to play for a national championship,” says head coach Susan Holt. “We have put ourselves in a position to do just that this season. Much to our surprise our ranking did not change as a result of our top-five finish at the ACC Championship. But the way we played there and who we beat (three top-25 teams) certainly gave us a boost of confidence and has us ready to play our best golf when it matters most.”
Duke is the top seed in the East region and will be joined by Virginia as the No. 7 seed, North Carolina State as the No. 9 seed and Florida State as the No. 10 seed. The Blue Devils, Cavaliers, Wolfpack and Seminoles will be playing their three-day regional championship on Florida State’s home course, the SouthWood Club in Tallahassee, Fla.
North Carolina and Miami (Fla.) round out the field from the ACC. The Tar Heels and Hurricanes will compete in the Central region as the No. 8 and No. 10 seeds, respectively. That championship will take place at the Karsten Creek Golf Club in Stillwater, Okla.
The University of Southern California is the top seed in the West region, while the Bruins of UCLA claimed the top spot in the Central region.
The regional tournaments are considered preliminary rounds of NCAA championship competition. A total of 378 participants have been selected for regional competition. Of these players, 126 will advance to the championship finals. Eight teams and two individuals will advance from each regional.
The championship finals will be played May 20-23 at Tulsa Country Club in Tulsa, Okla.
Notre Dame is ranked 54th in the recent Golfstat rankings and will face nine teams ranked in the top 25 in its region. With its appearance in 2014, the Fighting Irish women’s golf team has now advanced to the NCAA Regional on 10 occasions in program history since 1988. Holt has guided the Irish to an NCAA regional appearance as a team each of the last seven seasons and in eight consecutive seasons has had at least one golfer participate in regional competition.
“Our preparation will be done on an individual basis,” says Holt. “Since we have to leave next Tuesday and that coincides with finals week for our players, they will be taking their finals early starting this Thursday. This will have our players fitting in practice time when they can around studying and taking exams. I am confident they will put in quality time and be ready to go on day one at the regional. I am more concerned about the weather cooperating so they can get outside and practice. It looks like it’s going to be cold and rainy most of this week.”
West Regional (three regions, 72 total teams)
* Ordered by seeding, parenthesis indicate Golfstat rankings)
1. Southern California (No. 1)
2. Arizona State (No. 6)
3. Oklahoma (No. 7)
4. Washington (No. 8)
5. Clemson (No. 13)
6. Wake Forest (No. 18)
7. Northwestern (No. 19)
8. Michigan State (No. 25)
9. Iowa State (No. 26)
10. Georgia Regents, Augusta (No. 29)
11. Oregon (No. 30)
12. Texas A&M (No. 36)
13. California, Davis (No. 37)
14. Denver (No. 41)
15. San Diego State (No. 43)
16. Wisconsin (No. 49)
17. Gonzaga (No. 48)
18. Notre Dame (No. 54)
19. Tennessee (No. 55)
20. Tennessee-Chattanooga (No. 68)
21. New Mexico (No. 72)
22. New Mexico State (No. 114)
23. Portland State (No. 104)
24. Detroit Mercy (No. 194)
Individuals:
1. Allison Knowles, Louisiana-Monroe
2. Regan De Guzman, San Jose St.
3. Clariss Guce, California State
4. Fabiola Arriaga, Texas-San Antonio
5. Madchen Ly, California State-Fresno
6. Alexandra White, Brigham Young