Hogs Jump to First, Battle Tough Conditions at NCAA Columbus Regional

COLUMBUS, Ohio (arkansasrazorbacks.com) – Non-stop rain and cool, windy conditions caused every team to shoot above par in the second round of the NCAA Columbus Regional at the Ohio State University Golf Club (Par 72) on Tuesday.

The Razorbacks (+4, 1st) entered day two in second place at 6-under par, three shots behind hosts Ohio State, and finished the Tuesday in sole possession of first at 4-over and a one-shot advantage over UNLV (+5, 2nd).

“It was a very tough day with the conditions,” head coach Shauna Taylor said. “It rained the entire day and that adds another obstacle that we needed to overcome. The girls did a great job of being patient, resilient and optimistic despite the tough conditions. We talk about being gritty all the time and I loved the way they fought until the end.”

On the front nine, Arkansas got as low as 7-under while the Buckeyes bogeyed 11 times to move to 2-over for the tournament. The Razorbacks stayed atop the leaderboard for the remainder of the day as all 12 teams slipped. Kansas (T3, +6), tied for sixth entering the day, scored the lowest at 5-over, one shot ahead of the Hogs.

Senior Kendall Todd (-3, T2) tied junior Reagan Zibilski (+4, T21) for the squad’s lowest round at 2-over. Todd remained in second place after bogeying four of her last nine holes but ended the day with a birdie on No. 18, the only Razorback to do so.

Freshman Clarisa Temelo (+2, T10) and sophomore Abbey Schutte (+6, T30) both scored 75s and Maria José Marin’s score of 76 went uncounted. Temelo started the day at T13 and joined José Marin in the top 10 thanks to a five-birdie day.

An already saturated course took on that much more water and that combined with a cold wind blowing, caused the scores to skyrocket as the field of 66 players averaged 77.36, almost four strokes higher than the first round on Monday.

Prior to Wednesday’s final round, four teams in the NCAA Columbus Regional will be aiming for the final fifth spot in qualifying among fifth place SMU (+16, 5th), LSU (+17, T6), Kent State (+17, T6) and Houston (+20, 8th).

Wednesday’s conditions will be the best the 6,319 yard course has seen all week with temperatures in the low 70s and little to no rain expected.

“We have one more day of our mission,” Taylor said. “We will put together a game plan tonight to help us navigate the final round. It looks like the conditions will be favorable for scoring so we need to be prepared for that tomorrow.”

Arkansas will tee off at 8 a.m. ET for the third straight day and will be paired with No. 39 UNLV and No. 23 Kansas. The Jayhawks’ currently hold the top spot on the individual leaderboard, with sophomore Lyla Louderbaugh at 5-under after 36 holes.

The Razorbacks

T2. Kendall Todd 67-74 (-3)

T10. Maria José Marin 70-76 (+2)

T10. Clarisa Temelo 71-75 (+2)

T21. Reagan Zibilski 74-74 (+4)

T30. Abbey Schutte 75-75 (+6)