Hogs Finish One Stroke Off from Advancing to Nationals

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. – The Arkansas women’s golf team finished the NCAA Palm Beach Gardens Regional just one stroke off from finishing in the top five in the field to advance to the NCAA Championship. After Arkansas carded a 2-under 286 on Wednesday, the Hogs rounded out the tournament with a 16-over 880 (297-297-286) for sixth place, just one stroke behind fifth-place LSU and 11 ahead of seventh-place UCF. The final spot to nationals came down to the final hole. Arkansas’ 2022-23 season comes to an end at the Hogs’ 20th straight regional, 21st overall.

Kajal Mistry paced the Hogs to move up seven spots on the leaderboard and finish in fifth with an even 216 (74-73-69). The senior was two strokes behind advancing to nationals as an individual. Mistry came out hot on Wednesday, logging five birdies and 11 pars. Two of her birdies came back-to-back on holes 17 and 18 and closed out her final five holes with pars. Mistry led the tournament field with 14 birdies and the second-best par 5s average (4.58).

Reagan Zibilski had a stellar day, firing away a career-low 69 to progress 16 spots and finish the tournament in a tie for 14th. She logged a 3-over 219 (75-75-69), which is now a career-low 54-hole score. The freshman had five birdies and just two bogeys. Zibilski had an even 3.0 average in par 3s, which was tied for the ninth best in the field.

Julia Gregg finished the third round with a 2-over 74. On Wednesday, Gregg’s only hiccup was on hole five with a double bogey, also finishing the day with one birdie, 15 pars and one bogey. Gregg’s 5-over 221 (73-74-74) led to a tie for 19th place. She finished with the fifth best par 4s average (4.07) and sixth most pars (38) among the field.

Miriam Ayora got off to a hot start in the third round with a birdie on 10. She was set back with a triple bogey on hole 12 but prevailed with seven straight pars and two birdies in her next nine holes to get back to par. Ayora then bogeyed holes four and nine to finish over. The junior logged an 8-over 224 (75-75-74) to tie for 28th.

Ela Anacona finished the tournament in a tie for 58th with a 20-over 236 (78-77-81). She finished the day with 10 pars, but seven bogeys and a double bogey.

Arkansas held the second-best par 5s average (4.85), third most birdies (42) and fourth most pars (166) among the field.

TAYLOR’S TAKE

“We fell on the wrong side of one today. I’m gutted for our team but also proud of their fight in the final round,” said head coach Shauna Taylor. “We have had a season of many lessons and opportunities of learning. We fell short of the end goal but I’m sure we will return in the fall better because of this season’s journey. We return everyone and gain two freshmen. August can’t get fast enough.”

INDIVIDUAL SCORES

5 – Kajal Mistry – 74-73-69=216 (E)
T14 – Reagan Zibilski – 75-75-69=219 (+3)
T19 – Julia Gregg – 73-74-74=221 (+5)
T28 – Miriam Ayora – 75-74-74=224 (+8)
T58 – Ela Anacona – 78-77-81=236 (+20)

TEAM SCORES

1 – No. 34 Michigan State – 285-296-291=872 (+8)
2 – No. 28 Duke – 298-290-287=875 (+11)
T3 – No. 10 Texas – 298-291-289=878 (+14)
T3 – No. 15 Northwestern – 300-284-294=878 (+14)
5 – No. 3 LSU – 298-296-285=879 (+15)
6 – No. 45 Arkansas – 297-297-286=880 (+16)
7 – No. 19 UCF – 300-291-300=891 (+27)
8 – South Florida – 296-293-304=893 (+29)
9 – No. 49 Alabama – 299-303-296=898 (+34)
10 – No. 39 Cal – 302-299-301=902 (+38)
11 – Penn – 306-306-298=910 (+46)
12 – Quinnipiac – 315-322-300=937 (+73)

UP NEXT

The 2022-23 season has come to an end, as Arkansas has played in 20 straight NCAA Regionals.

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.