Arkansas ready for NCAA Championships

FAYETTEVILLE — The University of Arkansas women's golf team took a blow to their NCAA Championship chances when senior Brooke Matthews of Rogers elected to turn pro in January.

Then sophomore Cory Lopez's nagging shoulder injury caused her to come out of the lineup after one round at the SEC championships, as the Razorbacks failed to advance to match play there for the first time.

Yet somehow the team's depth came through and Arkansas earned its ticket to the NCAAs with a third-place tie at the NCAA Ann Arbor (Mich.) Regional two weeks ago.

The 17th-seeded Razorbacks will tee off today at 7:30 a.m. Central in the first round of the NCAAs at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz.

“I think tor a little while not having Brooke around was a little bit of a shocker,” Arkansas Coach Shauna Taylor told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. “Then obviously not having Cory the last few weeks. We've been transparent. We've talked about it and honed in on the message. It's just about being yourself and being you.

“When each person is taking care of their business and they're in a really good head space and they've put in the prep work, we can win and we can do great things with any lineup. Our team has a lot of depth. This team is very united.

“Getting this group to this point of the season is incredible, and I think it just shows how … we talk a lot about being a race horse, putting on blinder, and just do what we do.”

Arkansas will send out a lineup of junior Kajal Mistry, junior Julia Gregg, junior Ela Anacona, sophomore Miriam Ayora and freshman Ffion Tynan. Anacona placed fifth at the NCAA regional, while Gregg finished 15th and Ayora 19th.

Freshman Giovanna Fernandez traveled to Arizona as the alternate.