CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The Illinois women's golf team is set to open play as the No. 5 seed at the 2022 NCAA Tallahassee Regional, hosted by Florida State on Monday-Wednesday (May 9-11) in Tallahassee, Fla.
The Illini are led by All-Big Ten honorees Crystal Wang and Kornkamol Sukaree, who both collected First-Team earlier on Wednesday. The senior duo rank one-two in stroke average with Wang owning a team-leading 72.73 average and Sukaree sitting in second at 73.61.
THE SETTING
The NCAA Tallahassee Regional will be hosted by Florida State at the Seminole Legacy Golf Club in Tallahassee, Fla., and will set up as a par 72 and will play 6,292 yards.
Formerly known as Don Veller Seminole Golf Course, the Club recently completed a comprehensive renovation of its golf facilities under the direction of the Nicklaus Design company. The golf course was originally designed by Bill Amick and opened to the public in 1962. For years, the Club has served as the home of Florida State University's men's and women's golf teams. The renovation of the Club has effectively repositioned Seminole Legacy as one of the top collegiate golf clubs in the U.S.
The scope of the renovation includes a complete redesign of the golf course, with only one hole remaining from the original routing. All tees, fairways, rough, bunkers, greens and cart paths are new. Additionally, the old Don Veller course sat on about 210 acres, which included two driving ranges, a small short game area for the golf teams and a 7,147-yard par-73 golf course. The new golf course will be 7,800 yards and a par 72, sitting on 174 acres, including the two ranges and a new 12-hole par three course for the golf teams.
CHAMPIONSHIPS FORMAT
Six regional tournaments will be conducted May 9-11 to determine the championships field. A total of 72 teams and 36 individual participants have been selected for regional competition. Of the 396 players participating in the regionals, 132 will advance to the championship finals, with the top four teams and top two individuals (not on an advancing team) advancing from each regional.
There will be 12 teams competing at each of the six regional tournaments with 18 holes contested on each day of competition. Each round begins at 7 a.m. CT, with the order of the first round set by seeds, then by results in the second and third rounds.
The NCAA Women's Golf National Championships will be May 20-25 at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz., and hosted by Arizona State and The Thunderbirds. The final three days of the championships will be televised live by the GOLF Channel.
NCAA TALLAHASSEE REGIONAL FIELD
1. South Carolina
2. UCLA
3. Florida State
4. Ole Miss
5. Illinois
6. Mississippi State
7. Miami
8. Denver
9. North Florida
10. College of Charleston
11. Georgia Southern
12. Quinnipiac
NCAA Tallahassee Regional Individuals: Letizia Bagnoli (Florida Atlantic), Melanie Green (USF), Olivia Schmidt (Arkansas State), Berta Sanchez (Jacksonville State), Alizee Vidal (Kennesaw State), Victoria Schroedl (Fairleigh Dickinson).
FIGHTING ILLINI LINEUP
No. 1: Crystal Wang
No. 2: Kornkamol Sukaree
No. 3: Isabel Sy
No. 4: Siyan Chen
No. 5: Lexanne Halama
LIVE SCORING
Live scoring for the NCAA Tallahassee Regional will be available on Golfstat.com. A recap and results will be posted on FightingIllini.com following each day of play.
ILLINI AT THE NCAA REGIONALS
This is the fifth-consecutive NCAA Regional appearance and ninth overall in program history, with the 2020 national tournament cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Illini posted a 13th place finish at the 2021 NCAA Columbus Regional a season ago. The Illini have advanced to the NCAA Championships once in program history, registering a ninth place at the 2019 NCAA Championships, its highest finish in program history.
LAST TIME OUT
Illinois concluded the 2022 Big Ten Championships with a fifth-place finish after posting an 18-over par tournament total of 870 over three days on April 22-24 at the par 71, 6,045-yard Fox Chapel Golf Club.
Senior Crystal Wang was named to the All-Championship Team after finishing in a tie for sixth place with a two-over tournament total of 215. Along with Wang, the Illini had three golfers in the top 20 as senior Kornkamol Sukaree tied for 12th with a four-over total of 217 and sophomore Isabel Sy earned her fifth top-25 finish of the spring as she tied for 17th with a seven-over total of 220.
UP NEXT
The top four teams and two individuals from each regional will advance to the 2022 NCAA Women's Golf National Championships on May 20-25 at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona.
For more Fighting Illini women's golf news, stay tuned to FightingIllini.com and follow @IlliniWGolf on social media: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook.
