Kentucky Women’s Golf Travels West for NCAA Pullman Regional
PULLMAN, Wash. – The University of Kentucky women’s golf team will contend for a spot at the NCAA Women’s Golf Championship, as it competes at the NCAA Pullman Regional from May 8-10. The Wildcats are the fifth seed in the 12-team field at the regional, which will be held at the Palouse Ridge Golf Club (par 72, 6,405 yards) in Pullman, Washington.
The Wildcats will play 54 holes over three days, with the top five teams at the conclusion of competition moving on to the NCAA Championship at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona, from May 19-24. It will mark the program’s 20th regional appearance all time, including nine under head coach Golda Borst, while it would mark the program’s second NCAA Championship appearance ever.
UK will use a familiar lineup out West, with Laney Frye sitting at the top of the order for the seventh time in 2022-23. The All-Southeastern Conference Second Team selection has a team-high 71.2 stroke average over nine tournaments this season, earning six individual finishes inside the top 10. She is coming off a T6 outcome at the SEC Championship, UK’s best individual finish in more than a decade.
All-SEC Second Team honoree Jensen Castle (71.8), Ivy Shepherd (74.0), María Villanueva Aperribay (74.5) and Marissa Wenzler (74.7) round out the lineup. Kentucky has used this fivesome in seven of its 10 tournaments this season, and it has reeled in a favorable amount of success, including earning two tournament titles, one medalist honor and several broken records.
Overall this season, UK has finished in the top five in 50 percent of its tournaments (5 of 10). In the process, it set the best and the third-best, 54-hole tournament totals in school history.
Best 54-Hole Tournament Totals in Program History
- 2022-23 Illini Women’s Invitational 830 (-34)
- 2021-22 UCF Challenge 833 -31
- 2022-23 UCF Challenge 844 (-20)
In the process, the Wildcats won back-to-back tournament titles to close out the fall schedule, which marked just eighth time in school history that the ‘Cats have claimed at least to wins in one season.
UK enters the postseason with a 290.4 stroke average per round in 2022-23, which is less than one stroke off the school record. Meanwhile, all five ‘Cats in the NCAA Pullman Regional lineup have earned an individual finish inside the top 11 at least once this season. Four of the five ‘Cats in the NCAA Pullman Regional lineup also got the program to its first-ever NCAA Championship just two springs ago.
Included in the 12-team field this week, and vying for a spot at the NCAA Championship, are No. 1 Stanford, No. 12 Baylor, No. 13 Southern California, No. 24 Clemson, Texas Tech, Houston, North Carolina, UNLV, Sacramento State, Cal Poly and Green Bay. Both Southern California and Clemson won their respective conference championships.
Kentucky will tee off in the first round Monday, and pairings will be announced soon.
The Wildcats will experience cooler temperatures in the Northwest, with lows in the 40s and highs in the mid-60s. There is a chance of thunderstorms and showers Monday and Tuesday.
For the latest on the Kentucky women’s golf team, follow the team on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, as well as on the web at UKathletics.com.
