Editor’s Note: The following is an official press release courtesy of LSU’s athletics department.
BATON ROUGE – For the 26th time in the 30 years an NCAA Golf Regional Round has been part of the post-season, the No. 3 ranked LSU women’s golf team has been selected to participate in a chance to advance to the NCAA Championship Tournament later next month.
The Tigers are the No. 1 seed in the Palm Beach Gardens regional to be held, May 8-10 at PGA National. The top five teams from each of six regionals will advance to what will be the largest NCAA Championship event field in women’s golf history.
The teams advancing to the regional competition were announced in a program Wednesday on The Golf Channel. Joining LSU, No. 3 in the Golfstat rankings, in seed order 2-12 (Golfstat rankings in parenthesis) are: Texas (10), Northwestern (15), UCF (19), Duke (28), Michigan State (36), California (39), Arkansas (45), Alabama (48), South Florida (57), Penn (100) and Quinnipiac (145).
In all, 72 teams advanced to the six regional sites where will be held on the same dates as well in Athens, Georgia; Pullman, Washington; Raleigh, North Carolina; San Antonio, Texas and Westfield, Indiana.
Originally designed by Tom and George Fazio for major tournament play, The Champion course
at PGA National Resort was redesigned by Jack Nicklaus in 2014 and hosts The Honda Classic
each spring on the PGA Tour. It is most famously known for “The Bear Trap” which spans the 15th, 16th and 17th holes, all designed by Nicklaus himself.
LSU knew it would be advancing to the regional round as a No. 1 seed because of its performance ranking in both Golfstat and the Mizuno WGCA Coaches Poll, but which of the six locations, proved to be a bit of a surprise.
“I usually don’t play the game of trying to figure out where we want to go,” said LSU Coach Garrett Runion, whose team advances to the NCAA regionals for the fourth straight year. “But in this case, being the No. 3 team in the country, I figured we were going to San Antonio and I thought it was kind of cut and dried. So, I was shocked to see Palm Beach Gardens and PGA National, but I’m very excited. It’s a course that some of our ladies have played before. It’s a tough course and that’s what we wanted. There is similar weather, similar grass, so it’s a good spot for us.
“I think it’s a very comfortable spot for us and now we just have to perform,” he said. “No matter where you go, you still have to play well. Our girls are excited and looking forward to it.”
A total of 11 women’s golf teams from the Southeastern Conference advanced to NCAA play.
The regional round started in 1993, ironically here in Baton Rouge at Santa Maria Golf Course as one of just two regionals that sent teams to a women’s national championship.
LSU has advanced from regional qualifying 12 times in its history, including each of the last two seasons. Last year at Stanford, LSU tied for second in the event. The tournament has been scheduled in Baton Rouge five total times, the last four times at the University Club.
The NCAA Championship was not conducted in 2020 after the suspension of all sports during the pandemic.
LSU will be trying to advance to the championship for the third straight year, marking the first time since the 1999-2001 seasons that LSU has made it on three consecutive occasions.
The complete NCAA Regional fields (The top 5 teams and the top individual not on the qualifying teams will advance to the national championships in Scottsdale, Arizona, May 19-24:
Palm Beach Gardens Regional Site
The Palm Beach Gardens Regional will be played at the PGA National Resort in Palm Beach Gardens,
Florida with Florida Atlantic and the Palm Beach County Sports Commission serving as co-hosts.
Teams:
1. LSU
2. Texas
3. Northwestern
4. UCF
5. Duke
6. Michigan State
7. California
8. Arkansas
9. Alabama
10. South Florida
11. Penn (The Ivy League)
12. Quinnipiac (Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference)
Individuals:
1. Christin Eisenbeiss, North Florida
2. Sara Byrne, Miami (FL)
3. Yanjun Liu, Princeton
4. Karissa Kilby, FIU
5. Leah Onosato, Old Dominion (Sun Belt Conference)
6. Katherine Lemke, Creighton (Big East Conference)
Pullman Regional Site
The Pullman Regional will be played at the Palouse Ridge Golf Club in Pullman, Washington and will
be hosted by Washington State.
Teams:
1. Stanford
2. Baylor
3. Southern California (Pac-12 Conference)
4. Clemson (Atlantic Coast Conference)
5. Kentucky
6. Texas Tech
7. Houston
8. North Carolina
9. UNLV
10. Sacramento State (Big Sky Conference)
11. Cal Poly (Big West Conference)
12. Green Bay (Horizon League)
Individuals:
1. Camille Boyd, Washington
2. Tiffany Le, UC Riverside
3. Harriet Lynch, Fresno State
4. Darcy Habgood, Washington State
5. Stefanie Deng, Washington
6. Cassie Kim, Gonzaga
Westfield Regional Site
The Westfield Regional will be played at The Club at Chatham Hills Golf Course in Westfield,
Indiana and will be hosted by Indiana and the Indiana Sports Corp.
Teams:
1. Mississippi State
2. Oregon
3. Vanderbilt
4. Iowa State
5. Virginia
6. Tulsa
7. Tennessee
8. Michigan
9. Oregon State
10. Xavier (Big East Conference)
11. Lipscomb (Atlantic Sun Conference)
12. Morehead State (Ohio Valley Conference)
Individuals:
1. Isabella McCauley, Minnesota
2. Carmen Griffiths, Louisville
3. Luisamariana Mesones, Minnesota
4. Sofia Torres, Colorado State
5. Lauren Beaudreau, Notre Dame
6. Sabrina Coffman, Cleveland State (Horizon League)
Raleigh Regional Site
The Raleigh Regional will be played at the Lonnie Poole Golf Course in Raleigh, North Carolina and
will be hosted by NC State.
Teams:
1. Wake Forest
2. Arizona State
3. Florida State
4. Florida
5. Arizona
6. North Texas (Conference USA)
7. TCU
8. NC State
9. Purdue
10. Nebraska
11. Campbell (Big South Conference)
12. Richmond (Patriot League)
Individuals:
1. Dorota Zalewska, Chattanooga
2. Kendall Turner, James Madison
3. Mallory Fobes, UNCW
4. Morgan Ketchum, Virginia Tech
5. Becca DiNunzio, Virginia Tech
6. Sarah Kahn, High Point (Big South Conference)
Athens Regional Site
The Athens Regional will be played at the University of Georgia Golf Course in Athens, Georgia with
Georgia serving as the host institution.
Teams:
1. South Carolina
2. San Jose State
3. Ole Miss
4. Ohio State
5. Georgia
6. Maryland
7. Kent State (Mid-American Conference)
8. Charleston (Colonial Athletic Association)
9. Kansas
10. Furman (Southern Conference)
11. Augusta (Southland Conference)
12. Sacred Heart (Northeast Conference)
Individuals:
1. Carla Bernat, Tulane
2. Mathilde Delavallade, Penn State
3. Mikhaela Fortuna, Oklahoma
4. Catie Craig, Western Kentucky (Conference USA)
5. Christy Chen, Boston U (Patriot League)
6. Isabella Gomez, Harvard (The Ivy League)
San Antonio Regional Site
The San Antonio Regional will be played at the TPC San Antonio in San Antonio, Texas with UTSA and
San Antonio Sports serving as the co-hosts.
Teams:
1. Texas A&M (Southeastern Conference)
2. Auburn
3. Pepperdine
4. Oklahoma State (Big 12 Conference)
5. SMU (American Athletic Conference)
6. UCLA
7. New Mexico (Mountain West Conference)
8. Denver (The Summit League)
9. Illinois (Big Ten Conference)
10. Sam Houston (Western Athletic Conference)
11. ULM (Sun Belt Conference)
12. Missouri State (Missouri Valley Conference)
Individuals:
1. Victoria Gailey, Nevada
2. Allysha Mae Mateo, BYU
3. Haley Vargas, Kansas State
4. Camryn Carreon, UTSA
5. Jasmine Leovao, Long Beach State (Big West Conference)
6. Alex Giles, Incarnate Word (Southland Conference)
NOTE: Twenty-seven conferences received automatic qualification to the 2023 Division I Women’s Golf
Championships.