Ohio State women's golf advances to NCAA championship tournament

For the second consecutive year, the Ohio State Buckeyes women's golf team has advanced to the NCAA championship tournament in Carlsbad, California. This year, the Buckeyes finished second in the Ann Arbor Regional, coming in just behind national No. 2 USC. Four Buckeyes shot around even par for the entire regional (all finishing in the individual top 20), while sophomore Mandy Song struggled, especially in the final round––which is okay, because only the top four team scores from each round count.

The top five teams from each regional advance to the championship, and Ohio State's advancing was never in doubt. The Buckeyes blazed to an early lead in Round 1 and never really looked back. A few shaky moments at the ends of Round 1 and Round 2 made this not as dominant a performance as it could have been––and perhaps creates some concern for next week's final event––but Ohio State did what it needed to do to advance in this year's event.

Joining USC and Ohio State in advancing from this regional are defending National Champions Northwestern (No. 32 overall seed this year), No. 10 Duke, and No. 48 Texas Tech, which survived a late collapse to finish fifth. No. 14 UCF finished sixth and will not advance. The Knights are looking like the highest-ranked team in the country to not reach Carlsbad.

Regional Round 3s are still ongoing around the country (Ann Arbor was the first to finish), but it is once again looking like a stacked field in Carlsbad. Around the country, very few of the top 20 seeds appear to be in danger of not advancing. No. 16 Tennessee is in trouble in the Waco Regional (currently in eighth place, well behind the cut line), and No. 17 Mississippi State will miss out after a stunning Round 3 collapse in the Chapel Hill Regional. No. 8 Oregon, No. 13 Vanderbilt, and No. 15 UCLA are all in potential trouble near the cut lines of their respective regionals, but all could still advance.

Ohio State finished 24th after three rounds in Carlsbad last year (only the top 15 make the cut for Round 4, after which the top eight participate in a match play bracket to determine the National Champion). Stanford will be the No. 1 overall seed and enter the event as a heavy favorite to take the title. Then again, the same way true last year, when the Cardinal was stunningly upset by Northwestern in the match play final.