No. 9 Women’s Golf’s Strong Back Nine Propels Hogs to First to Open NCAA Las Vegas Regionals

LAS VEGAS – The No. 9 Arkansas women’s golf team was on fire in the back nine at the NCAA Las Vegas Regionals to put the Hogs in position to lead by three shots after one round. With an 8-under 280, Arkansas earned its lowest opening round in an NCAA Regional in program history, second lowest overall. All five players birdied the 18th hole to finish 15-under par in the back nine altogether. Kajal Mistry is the solo leader after coming up with a career-low 66, leading the way by a shot, while Maria José Marin follows in third after tallying a 4-under 68.

Mistry enjoyed a flawless round to get to 6-under par, doing so with four birdies and an eagle at 15. She holed out hole 15 for eagle and used a 60°. She had a bogeyless round with 13 pars to elevate her way into first place. Her 66 is the second lowest round by a Razorback in NCAA Regional history and lowest since Alana Uriell’s 65 in 2018 in Austin. Mistry has the lowest par 4s average in the field at 3.60 and she is tied for the fourth most birdies with four on the day.

José Marin earned her 4-under 68 behind six birdies, 12 pars and just one bogey on the second hole. Her 68 is the sixth best score by a Razorback in the program’s 22 NCAA Regional appearances. She was 5-under in the back nine to elevate to third place. Her 68 is her sixth round in the 60s this season. She has the second most birdies (5), third best par 4s average (3.70) and fourth best par 5s average (4.50) in the field.

Miriam Ayora recovered from a tough start to finish the day with a 1-over 73. After going through the front nine at 3-over par, Ayora finished strong with a flawless back nine behind two birdies and seven pars. She is in a tie for 19th with Kendall Todd, who is in her reunion back in Las Vegas. She finished the day also with a 1-over 73. Todd was 3-over par through the front nine, but logged three birdies, five pars and one bogey in the back to finish 1-over par on the day. Her four birdies is tied for the fourth most in the field.

Reagan Zibilski is in a tie for 31st after logging a 2-over 74. She also enjoyed a great back nine after starting out the front 4-over par. Zibilski was 2-under par in the back with three birdies, five pars and one bogey.

QUOTES

Kajal Mistry, graduate student

On shooting a career-low 66:

“When I was coming down 18, I thought about the best I shot as a Razorback was -5, so I really wanted to birdie the last hole to beat it. I hit the ball really well today and I think I was smart about where I needed to hit it. A couple of putts dropped and I holed out on eagle on 15 which helped.”

On the team’s great start:

“I think it’s really important to get off to a good start. I know a bad first round can take you out, but a good first round can put us in a good position going into the next two days. I’m really pleased with our team’s performance, and we are just going to keep pushing.”

Shauna Taylor, head coach

On the team’s performance on the back nine:

“After the practice round because of the high winds, I wasn’t sure how that was going to play, so I encouraged the girls to pay a lot of attention to detail as they executed their plays. Obviously with how we played the backside, it was really helpful. I think it helped them be specific and allow us to be put in a position to make a lot of birdies.”

On the team shooting its lowest opening round at an NCAA Regional in program history:

“It’s a good start. You can’t win it on the first day, but you can put yourself in a position to do that. I think it’s a collective effort. We had all five girls in it today and that’s what you really look for this time of year, to have all five with an opportunity to count coming down the stretch. That’s a coach’s dream, and hopefully we give ourselves that opportunity the next two days.”

On Kajal Mistry’s performance:

“I’m just really proud of Kajal. She’s in her fifth year, COVID year, and as a coach, it’s really fun to watch somebody mature and grow so much on the golf course. It took her awhile, but she’s really intelligent at making good plays, picking good targets and trying to hit the best golf shot she can, so I’m really proud of Kajal. She’s a senior and I expect her to execute like that because she’s really capable of it.”

ROUND ONE INDIVIDUAL SCORES

1 – Kajal Mistry – 66=66 (-6)
3 – Maria José Marin – 68=68 (-4)
T19 – Miriam Ayora – 73=73 (+1)
T19 – Kendall Todd – 73=73 (+1)
T31 – Reagan Zibilski – 74=74 (+2)

ROUND ONE TEAM SCORES

1 – No. 9 Arkansas – 280=280 (-8)
2 – No. 19 Florida State – 283=283 (-5)
3 – No. 33 Purdue – 284=284 (-4)
4 – No. 4 UCLA – 291=291 (+3)
5 – No. 40 Baylor – 292=292 (+4)
T6 – No. 16 Arizona – 294=294 (+6)
T6 – No. 46 Oklahoma – 294=294 (+6)
8 – Colorado State – 298=298 (+10)
T9 – California – 301=301 (+13)
T9 – Kent State – 301=301 (+13)
11 – Dartmouth – 302=302 (+14)
12 – Xavier – 310=310 (+22)

ROUND TWO TEE TIMES OFF HOLE 1 (CT)

10 a.m. – Reagan Zibilski
10:11 a.m. – Miriam Ayora
10:22 a.m. – Kendall Todd
10:33 a.m. – Maria José Marin
10:44 a.m. – Kajal Mistry

UP NEXT

The Hogs will play round two, tomorrow on Tuesday, teeing off from hole 1 at 10 a.m. CT with Florida State and Purdue.

MORE INFORMATION

Keep up with all of the latest news and information and get behind the scenes looks into our program on our social media accounts. Follow us on Twitter at @RazorbackWGolf and check out our Facebook page “Razorback Women’s Golf.” Stats, news and player information can be found at ArkansasRazorbacks.com.