Big West Champion Long Beach State and UC Irvine, along with Chelsea Stelzmiller and Alice Kim from UC Davis, were selected to participate in the 2009 NCAA Division I Women's Golf Championship West Regional, as announced today by the NCAA Women's Golf Committee. The three-day, 54-hole regional that will take place May 7-9 at the par-72, 6,230-yard Karsten Golf Course at Arizona State University.
Fifteenth-seeded Long Beach State will make its second appearance in the NCAA Tournament after winning its first Big West Conference Championship last week in San Luis Obispo, Calif., securing the conference's automatic bid. The 49ers won the title by one stroke over four-time defending champion UC Irvine and UC Davis. Freshman Lee Lopez tied for second place with a three-round 228 (74-76-78) and senior All-American Kay Hoey tied for seventh with a 233 (76-79-78) total.
UC Irvine received an at-large selection to advance to its fifth straight regional after tying for second at the Big West Championship. It is the sixth overall regional selection for the Anteaters, who are seeded No. 9 among the 21 competing teams. The Anteaters are led by 2009 Big West Women's Golfer of the Year Jane Chin, who tied for second at the conference championship and is ranked No. 9 in the Golfweek ratings.
UC Davis' Kim and Stelzmiller were selected to play as individuals at the upcoming regional. Kim led the Aggies in scoring during the 2009 season, averaging 73.6 strokes. She had five top-10 finishes in 10 tournament appearances, including a tie for second at the Heather Farr Memorial Invitational in September and a third-place showing at the Fresno State Lexus Classic in February.
Stelzmiller capped her impressive sophomore season with a tie for runner-up honors at the conference tournament. Stelzmiller had six finishes in the top 10, highlighting her year so far with a win at the Anteater Invitational at UC Irvine on Mar. 30-April 1.
Pac-10 champion Arizona State is the top seed in the West Regionals, followed by USC and LSU. A total of 54 holes will be played with 18 holes being completed on each of the three days.
The top eight teams and top two individuals not on an advancing team will qualify for the championship finals May 19-22 at the Caves Valley Golf Club in Owings Mills, Md.
West Regional
1. Arizona State (Pacific-10 Conference)
2. Southern California
3. Louisiana State
4. Pepperdine
5. Arkansas
6. San Jose State (Western Athletic Conference)
7. Arizona
8. California
9. UC Irvine
10. San Francisco
11. UNLV
12. TCU
13. Texas A&M
14. Oregon
15. Long Beach State (Big West Conference)
16. Colorado
17. Texas
18. Baylor
19. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (Southland Conference)
20. Northern Arizona (Big Sky Conference)
21. Oral Roberts (The Summit League)
Individuals:
1. Miki Ueoka, Santa Clara
2. Chelsea Stelzmiller, UC Davis
3. Alice Kim, UC Davis