FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas Coach Shauna Estes-Taylor believes her women's golf team has a shot at the NCAA title over the next week.
"If we can get all five girls firing, I think we'll be in a good position," Estes-Taylor said.
WOMEN’S GOLF
NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS
WHEN Today-Thursday
WHERE Bradenton, Fla.
COURSE The Concession Golf Club (6,500 yards, par 72)
TV Monday’s final round on Golf Channel (3 p.m.-6 p.m. Central)
INTERNET golfstat.com
TOP 8 SEEDS1. Southern California, 2. South Carolina, 3. UCLA, 4. Duke, No. 5 Arizona, 6. LSU, No. 7 Washington, No. 8 Arkansas
ARKANSAS LINEUP 1. Gabriela Lopez (71.79 scoring average), 2. Regina Plasencia (73.57), 3. Samantha Marks (74.36), Summar Roachell (74.57), Alana Uriell (74.93)
NOTEWORTHY The Concession Golf Club, designed by Jack Nicklaus and Tony Jacklin, was named one of the top 100 courses in the United States in 2009 by Golf magazine. … Defending NCAA champion Duke and 2014 runner-up Southern California are considered top contenders for the title along with SEC champion Texas A&M and No. 2 South Carolina.
The Razorbacks will begin their quest for their first NCAA title today at the NCAA Golf Championship at The Concession Golf Club in Bradenton, Fla.
The No. 8 Razorbacks will tee off at 6:30 a.m. Central from the No. 10 tee with No. 7 Washington and No. 10 Texas A&M. The 24 teams at the championship will compete in three rounds of stroke play before being cut to 15 teams for a final round of stroke play. The final eight teams will start match play Tuesday.
The 6,500-yard layout at The Concession could play into the Razorbacks' favor after all their practice work at their home course The Blessings.
"It's a new track for us, and I've heard a lot of stuff about it and called a bunch of people who have played it," Estes-Taylor said. "The comments I've heard from all the people is that The Blessings is a great tool for us to prepare on. The greens are slopey, they're big, they're demanding."
Arkansas had its struggles early in the season, finishing 11th at the Ping/Arizona State Invitational in mid-April and eighth at the SEC championships, but the Razorbacks rallied from seventh place after the first round of the NCAA St. George Regional to finish third behind Southern Cal and Stanford.
Junior Gaby Lopez fired a final-round 71 and freshman Alana Uriell shot 69 to tie for second in the medalist race. Junior Regina Plasencia won a 36-hole U.S. Open qualifier in Bradenton on Monday as a tuneup for the NCAAs.
They will be joined by sophomores Summar Roachell and Samantha Marks in Arkansas' starting lineup.
"To see Regina get some confidence from qualifying for the U.S. Open is a big boost for our team," Estes-Taylor said. "Obviously Gaby's been playing great, and she and Alana Uriell had a second-place finish at regionals.
"It's fantastic. Now if we can get Summar and Samantha to do the same thing, we'll have a chance."
Sports on 05/22/2015