The UNC women’s golf team finished third in the NCAA Auburn Regional on Wednesday afternoon, locking the Tar Heels in to a berth in the NCAA Championship later this month. It’s Carolina’s first appearance in the championship since 2017 and its first under third-year head coach Aimee Neff.

The Tar Heels sat in sixth place after Monday’s first round – the top five teams in each regional advance to the championship – but surged into safety on Tuesday thanks to a two-under par 70 from Inez Ng. Carolina led the field briefly before settling into third place with a team score of 292 (four-over par). On Wednesday, Kayla Smith shot one-under par to finish her tournament with the exact same score, and the Tar Heels held firm in third place. Tulsa and South Carolina tied for fourth place, six strokes behind UNC. First-place Auburn and second-place Oregon are the two other teams to advance from the regional.

Smith was UNC’s highest finisher, tying for fifth. Megan Streicher shot one-over and tied for seventh place. Ng tied for 18th at seven-over. It’s the first time Carolina has had two players finish in the top 10 at a regional since 2004.

The Tar Heels will join 29 other teams at the Omni La Costa Resort in Carlsbad, CA for the NCAA Championship. The championship begins with three rounds of stroke play from May 17 through May 19. The top 15 teams in the field will then advance to a fourth round of stroke play, after which the top eight finishers (when combining scores from all four rounds) will advance to match play on May 21.

 

Featured image via UNC Women’s Golf on Twitter

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