Arkansas men's golf Coach Brad McMakin saw it as a good omen when his team arrived for the final round of the NCAA Kohler (Wis.) Regional with the temperature up and the winds down.
McMakin's signs were on target.
The Razorbacks played their best round of the week on Wednesday, firing a 7-under-par 281 to tie for second at the regional and advance to the NCAA Championships.
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The No. 21 Razorbacks carded a 7-under for the regional on the Blackwolf Run Meadow Valleys course, tying with SEC mate No. 16 Florida four strokes behind No. 4 Illinois, the regional champion at 11-under.
Those three teams advanced to the NCAAs, along with No. 10 Florida State (-6) and No. 28 Baylor (-6), which carded a regional-best round of 14-under on Wednesday to surge past Idaho.
Arkansas qualified for the NCAA Championships for the fifth time in the last eight years under McMakin.
"We got off to a great start with five or six birdies right off the bat," McMakin said. "The scores were low. There was no wind -- the last two days it blew at 20 mph and it was cold and tough -- so I knew you were going to have to shoot a low score to get through."
Arkansas started hot off the first tee, with all five golfers under par through six holes. The Razorbacks peaked at 10 under, one stroke behind the leader Florida at that stage of the round.
Senior Taylor Moore led the way with a 2-under round to bring his tournament total to 3-under, tied for fifth place. Senior Nicolas Echavarria also shot 2-under for the day and finished at 1-under, tied for 12th.
Sophomore Alvaro Ortiz posted an eagle on the 565-yard fourth hole and reached 4-under through 16 holes before finishing at 2-under on the day, 1-over for the regional and tied for 29th.
Senior Kolton Crawford was 1-under on the day and tied for 43rd at 5-over, while freshman Charles Kim wound up at 4-over and tied for 39th after a final round 76 on the par 72 layout.
The Razorbacks, who were near the bottom of the 13-team field for parts of the opening round, overcame a 4 over team score on Monday.
"We got behind the eight ball this week and we almost came back and won, so these guys have firepower," McMakin said.
The Razorbacks led the regional with four eagles and their 54 birdies was second behind Illinois' 56.
Arkansas is one of nine SEC teams to make the field of 30 for the NCAA Championships, which will start May 27 in Eugene, Ore.
Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama, Kentucky and Auburn all advanced from the Tuscaloosa (Ala.) Regional, while host Vanderbilt and LSU moved on from the Franklin (Tenn.) Regional.
Texas A&M, which was tied with San Diego State for the fifth spot at the NCAA Albuquerque Regional, lost to the Aztecs in a one-hold playoff.