UA women have long trip to earn spot back home
FAYETTEVILLE — For the University of Arkansas women’s golf team, the road back home to compete for a national championship at The Blessings course means a 4,000-mile round trip to the Pacific Northwest.
The No. 8-ranked Razorbacks are a No. 2 seed at the Cle Elum (Wash.) Regional, which will be played at Tumble Creek Golf Club on May 6-8. Cle Elum is 85 miles east of Seattle.
Other regional sites are Norman, Okla.; Opelika, Ala.; and East Lansing, Mich.
“Obviously, we’d love to get in the car and drive over and play in Norman or be at [Opelika], where we played a couple weeks ago,” Arkansas Coach Shauna Taylor said. “But we know what it’s like this time of year, and where we were in the rankings just put us in a position where we’ll go west and look forward to the challenge and opportunity ahead of us.”
The Razorbacks have to finish among the top six in the 18-team regional to advance to the NCAA Championships, which will be held at The Blessings in Fayetteville on May 17-22.
“We’ve got to travel pretty far west, but it’s beautiful there,” said Arkansas senior Kaylee Benton, who tied for second at the SEC Championships. “We’re just ready to dominate wherever we go.”
Razorbacks senior Maria Fassi, the SEC champion, said the players won’t feel extra pressure at the regional because the NCAA Championships are in Fayetteville.
“I think we’re lucky we get to host,” Fassi said. “But we do have to go through regionals, and we do have to take care of business next week in Washington. We just need to go play our game.”
Arkansas is making its 18th NCAA Tournament appearance and 17th consecutive, including 11 under Taylor.
“I feel like we have tremendous momentum and confidence moving through the season,” Taylor said. “Obviously, we have some good golf in our memory bank, and we’re excited to take that with us to Washington.”
Arkansas is one of six teams ranked in the top 25 nationally in the 18-team field at the Cle Elum Regional, along with No. 1 Southern California, No. 9 South Carolina, No. 16 Northwestern, No. 19 Washington and No. 23 Miami.
The Razorbacks haven’t finished lower than seventh in nine tournaments this season. They’ve had two second-place finishes and four third-place finishes.
“We haven’t won this year yet, but we’ve played the fifth-toughest schedule in the nation,” Taylor said. “I just feel like we’re so prepared with the challenges that we’ve faced this season.”