Huang advances after five-hole playoff, No. 41 BYU women take ninth at NCAA Regional

AUSTIN, Texas – Rose Huang advanced to the NCAA Championships after a five-hole playoff, while the No. 41 BYU women’s team finished ninth at the NCAA Austin Regional on Wednesday at the University of Texas Golf Course.

"We are disappointed we didn’t get to the NCAA Championships as a team," BYU head coach Carrie Roberts said. "But, we are super proud of Rose Huang, who qualified as an individual."

In the NCAA Austin Regional, the top six team advanced to the NCAA Division I Championship as well as the top three individuals, who are not part of the top six teams.

Maddie Szeryk from Texas A&M claimed the first individual place with a total score of 209 (-7). Tied for fourth place, BYU’s Rose Huang faced off against Michigan State's’ Sarah Burnham and Houston’s Leonie Harm for the second and third individual spots.

Through the first four playoff holes, the three players were still tied. On the par-5 fifth hole, Huang shot a birdie securing the second individual spot at the NCAA Championship. Harm earned the final individual spot on the seventh playoff hole.

In the third day of the NCAA Austin Regional, Huang’s 71 (-1) put her in a tie for fourth place as she recorded a season-best score of 212 carding a 71-70-71 throughout the competition.

Also finishing in the top 20, Kendra Dalton tied for 16th place at the NCAA Austin Regional. Dalton, who fired a pair of 71’s in the first two rounds, shot 73 (+1) on the final day. Finishing with a 54-hole score of 215, the senior birdied eight holes throughout the regional.

On the final day of the regional championships, the Cougars carded a team total of 296 (+10) claiming the ninth spot with a three-day 54-hole total of 885 (+21). The Cougars were only three strokes behind No. 11 Michigan State who placed eighth and seven strokes behind the seventh place team, No. 38 Texas A&M.

No. 3 Arkansas won the regional shooting 5-under par on the final day to finish at 26-under. The Razorbacks, along with No. 8 Texas, No. 19 Auburn, No. 14 Florida, No. 35 Baylor and No. 21 Oklahoma advance to the 2018 NCAA Division I Women’s Golf Championships in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

Naomi Soifua carded 74-78-75 in the three-day competition. Totaling a 227 through 54 holes, Soifua tied for 56th place.  

Annie Yang and Anna Kennedy both tied for 72nd with a total score of 233 (+3). Yang shot 75-77-81 while Kennedy carded 76-78-79 through three days. Both birdied a par-5 hole on the final day of the NCAA Austin Regional.

Huang will represent No. 41 BYU women’s golf and compete as an individual at the NCAA Division I Championships in Stillwater, Oklahoma May 18-23.

Three of the five student-athletes who competed in this year's regional championships will return next season. The two seniors on the team are Kendra Dalton and Annie Yang.

Day 1 Recap

Day 2 Recap

2018 NCAA Austin Regional - May 7-9, 2017

The University of Texas Golf Course