Hogs Catch Fire on Back Nine, Finish NCAA Regional First Round Tied for Third
SIMPSONVILLE, Ky. – Top-seeded Arkansas women’s golf started the first round of the NCAA Louisville Regional slow but finished 8-under on the back nine to surge from last place to tied for third by the end of the day.
The Hogs (T3, -4) are tied with 10-seed Xavier, two shots back of co-leaders 5-seed Houston and 4-seed Ole Miss at 6-under. Arkansas, the Cougars and the Rebels will make up the first grouping of the second round.
How it Happened
Early on, Arkansas struggled with its approach shots, making any birdie opportunities difficult. The Razorbacks were 4-over and in 12th place after the first three holes before Reagan Zibilski (-3, T6) nabbed the Hogs’ first birdie of the regional on the par-5 fourth hole.
Zibilski dropped back to even on the following hole, a 380-yard par-4, with her only bogey of the day. The senior birdied the first two holes of her back nine and added a fourth overall on the par-4 15th. All three of her back-nine birdies came on par-4s. Her 69 tied for the lowest round at a regional in her career.
Freshman Sara Brentcheneff (-2, T12) had a strong regional debut despite starting 2-over through her first seven holes. The Lyon, France native collected four birdies over her last 11 holes and nearly had a fifth on the par-5 17th but missed her four-foot putt to match Zibilski.
Maria Jose Marin, making her third regional start, also started slow with an early double-bogey on No. 2, the hardest hole of the day with a stroke average of 4.30. Marin settled in and parred her next seven holes but dropped to 3-over with another bogey on No. 10. She added four birdies between Nos. 12-17 and was 1-under with one to go, but bogeyed No. 18 after her fourth shot landed well short of the flag. She missed her long putt for par and finished even par.
Junior Abbey Schutte (+1, T36), another slow starter, was 2-over headed into No. 9 but birdied three straight to get back to under par. Her pair of birdies to start the back nine briefly put Arkansas atop the leaderboard with Houston at 5-under. She slipped back to 1-over with a bogey on the par-4 14th and two-putted on the par-3 16th.
Freshman Swetha Sathish’s (+5, T52) 75 was dropped. She was 3-over with two holes to play, but double-bogeyed No. 17 after her tee shot landed in very tall grass.
Arkansas ranked second among the field in par-3 and par-4 scoring at 2.95 and 4.03, respectively. Houston took advantage on the par-5s, finishing 7-under with a stroke average of 4.65.
The Razorbacks’ playing partners also finished under par. No. 2 seed Auburn was 2-under and T5 while 3-seed Iowa State shot 1-under and is in solo seventh.
Round Two Tee Times
7:00 – Swetha Sathish (+5, T52)
7:11 – Abbey Schutte (+1, T36)
7:22 – Maria Jose Marin (E, T23)
7:33 – Sara Brentcheneff (-2, T12)
7:44 – Reagan Zibilski (-3, T6)
For more information on Arkansas women’s golf, follow @RazorbackWGolf on social media.
