Arkansas Women’s Golf Punches Ticket to NCAA Championship

SIMPSONVILLE, Ky. – The Arkansas women’s golf team will play in the NCAA Championship for the third straight season after a solo third finish at the NCAA Louisville Regional on Wednesday.

The Hogs finished the event at 10-under par, two shots above the cut line.

The national tournament will take place from May 22-27 at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, California. The 30 teams will be cut to 15 after three rounds of stroke play. The top 8 teams will move on to match play following the fourth round of stroke play. The lowest individual will be crowned following the fourth round.

How It Happened

Arkansas started the day in fourth place at 11-under, three shots above the cut line. Houston entered the final round with a 2-shot lead over Auburn at 19-under.

The Hogs teed off from No. 10 for the first time this week and knocked the harder half of the course out early.

Senior Reagan Zibilski (E, T26) paced the Hogs with a bogey-free first nine with three birdies to put her squad in good position at the turn.

Junior Maria Jose Marin (-4, T9) played the front at 1-under with one birdie and saved par on No. 18 with an impressive up and down from above the green.

Freshman Swetha Sathish (+5, T40), playing in the fifth spot, parred all nine holes and was a steady presence on a nerve-wracking final day.

Junior Abbey Schutte (+5, T40) and freshman Sara Brentcheneff (-1, T20) swapped back and forth in the final counting score spot until Schutte hit it in the water No. 14 and Brentcheneff made her first birdie of the day, a long putt on the par-3 16th.

At the turn, Arkansas sat in fourth at 12-under and five shots above the cut.

Auburn, who teed off from No. 1, led the way at 21-under.

The Hogs looked forward to lower scores on holes 1-9 as the early morning teams did, but the wind picked up to a steady 15-20 miles per hour.

Arkansas ended up finishing the second nine at 4-over and only saw two birdies from the four counting players.

Zibilski was the only Razorback to shoot under par on the second nine, with birdies on Nos. 6 and 9. Her birdie on the ninth put her back to even par for the tournament after a 5-over second round on Tuesday.

Marin shot 2-over on the second, with bogeys on Nos. 1 and 9.

Sathish was the only other counting Razorback to birdie on the second, a nice finish on the par-5 fourth hole.

Schutte made two birdies before making two bogeys and dropping out of counting.

Auburn dropped five shots but still won the regional by six after Houston played the third round at 8-over par.

Iowa State, who entered the day in third, tied for fourth with Ole Miss at 9-under, who entered the day on the outside looking in at sixth.

Auburn’s Anna Davis (-10, 1st) shot under par in each of her rounds (70-65-71) to win the individual title by one stroke over Indiana’s Sheridan Clancy.

Notes

• Arkansas will make its 14th NCAA Championship appearance all-time.
• The Razorbacks are one of 10 SEC schools to make it to La Costa.
• Arkansas has played in the championship every time it’s been hosted at La Costa, dating back to 2024.
• The Hogs made it to the match play quarterfinals for just the second time in program history at last year’s national tournament, falling to eventual champion Northwestern, 3-2.
• The 10-under finish is the second-lowest at a regional in program history. In 24 regional appearances, Arkansas has finished under par in three: 2018 (-26), 2025 (-3) and 2026 (-10).
• Maria Jose Marin will look to defend her 2025 NCAA individual national title. She shot a 12-under 276 to win last year, the third-lowest score in NCAA Championship history.
• Marin’s T9 finish was her 11th top 10 finish in 12 tournaments this season.

Up Next

The Razorbacks will travel to Carlsbad on Tuesday, May 19.

For more information on Arkansas women’s golf, follow @RazorbackWGolf on social media.