FAYETTEVILLE -- Coach Shauna Estes-Taylor and the Arkansas women's golf team walked the NCAA Championship course at the Eugene (Ore.) Country Club on Wednesday, the day before their practice round.
For good measure, the Razorbacks strolled the 18 holes in reverse, from greens to tees, to study angles and undulations on the greens and along the fairways lined with Douglas Firs.
More from WholeHogSports
http://www.wholehog…">VIDEO: Golfers team up for trick shots
Arkansas women’s golf
at NCAA Championships
What NCAA Championships
When Today-Wednesday
Where Eugene Country Club, Eugene, Ore.
Course stats 6,331 yards, par 72
Format 24 teams in three rounds of stroke play, then top 15 teams play one round to set field of 8 teams for match play.
Live scoring ncaa.com
Top seeds No. 1 Alabama, No. 2 Southern California, No. 3 UCLA, No. 4 Florida, No. 5 Duke, No. 6 Georgia, No. 7 Northwestern, No. 8 Oklahoma State
Arkansas lineup 1. Maria Fassi (72.56 scoring average), 2. Alana Uriell (73.46), 3. Regina Plasencia (73.93), 4. Summar Roachell (74.64), 5. Cara Gorlei (75.16)
Noteworthy
Arkansas has four top-10 finishes at the NCAAs, including No. 9, the first team out of the match play cut, last season. The Razorbacks’ top finish was a tie for fifth in 2011. … Arkansas has a 28-22-1 record against the rest of the championship field this season. … Sophomore Alana Uriell was named to the Women’s Golf Coaches Association All-Region team based on her top-10 finish at the Stanford Regional. Uriell, a native of Carlsbad, Calif., earned the distinction for the second consecutive season. … Rankings for the Razorbacks in the May 10 Golfweek rankings: No. 7 Maria Fassi, No. 64 Alana Uriell, No. 98 Regina Plasencia, No. 129 Summar Roachell, No. 167 Cara Gorlei.
No. 11 Arkansas will put its studies to use today in the first round of the 24-team NCAA Championships. The Razorbacks tee off from No. 1 at 3:06 p.m. Central with playing partners Stanford and Washington.
"We were able to take some good notes," Estes-Taylor said. "It's got some huge trees lining the fairways. The rough is pretty thick. I do feel like us having gone to Stanford as our regional site ... gave us a feel for West Coast grass."
Arkansas is making its eighth appearance at the NCAAs, including its fifth in the last six years under Estes-Taylor. The Razorbacks have one tournament victory, in the season opener at the Powerade Cougar Classic in Charleston S.C., and four runner-up finishes.
"I feel like everybody's in a really good place in their golf games and we're excited to have the opportunity to go out and try to win a championship," Estes-Taylor said.
"They've put in the 6 a.m. workouts, they've learned a ton of new golf shots and they've had some great competition, with some great successes and great challenges. I think they're prepared for anything they'll see this weekend."
Sophomore Alana Uriell led the Razorbacks to a fifth-place finish in the Stanford Regional two weeks ago by placing third. Uriell will play out of the No. 2 position, behind freshman Maria Fassi, and followed by senior Regina Plasencia, junior Summar Roachell and freshman Cara Gorlei.
The loaded field includes the last four NCAA champions, including defending champion Stanford.
The SEC -- with No. 1 Alabama, No. 4 Florida, No. 6 Georgia, No. 11 Arkansas, No. 18 South Carolina and No. 21 Tennessee -- is tied with the Pac-12 with six teams each in the championship field.
Estes-Taylor said the Razorbacks will need to be patient to have a chance on the par 72, 6,331-yard layout.
"If you get it in the rough out here, you're just going to have to be disciplined and be patient with it and get the ball back in position and not be greedy," she said. "If we adhere to that we're going to put ourselves in a really good position."
Sports on 05/20/2016