The No. 3 Arkansas Razorbacks flexed their depth and star power to take home their first NCAA regional title and medalist honors in the final round of the NCAA Austin Regional on Wednesday.
The Razorbacks carded a 5 under to finish the three-round tournament at a school regional record 26 under to smoke No. 8 Texas by 11 shots on the Longhorns’ home course at the UT Golf Club.
"We came here on a mission," Arkansas Coach Shauna Taylor said. "We missed making it to nationals as a team last year, and this group has done a fantastic job this year. This is just a part of the journey and a part of the process."
Arkansas’ Maria Fassi made a late charge with three consecutive birdies to take the individual title by a stroke over Texas A&M’s Maddie Szeryk. Fassi recorded an 8-under 208 to earn the Razorbacks' first NCAA regional championship.
"Today I played smarter than the last two days," Fassi said. "It’s always great to win individually, but I think college golf is about winning with the team.
"I’m just really thankful that I was able to help the team come out on top. It really shows how well we are playing and how well-prepared we are."
Arkansas extended its school record by winning its seventh tournament of the season, smashing the old record of three.
Three other University of Arkansas, Fayetteville players moved into the top five. Junior Dylan Kim shot 1 over on Wednesday and finished alone in third at 5 under.
Senior Alana Uriell, whose 7 under fueled the Razorbacks’ record-breaking 17 under Tuesday, finished up with a 3-under 69 to tie for fourth at 4 under. Junior Kaylee Benton had a relatively quiet day with two birdies and two bogeys for an even par that left her at 4 under, tied with Uriell and six other golfers for fourth.
Junior Cara Gorlei finished with a 2 over and tied for 38th place.
Fassi had an even-par round going through No. 13 and trailed Szeryk by two shots with five holes to play. Then the 5-9 junior from Pachuca, Mexico, got hot. She shot birdie on the next three holes to seize the lead. Fassi finished with a pair of pars to wrap up her comeback victory.
The Razorbacks easily paced the field in birdies with 57, nine more than Texas. Arkansas showed its firepower on the longest holes, firing a 23 under on the par 5s to lead Baylor by 13 shots in that department.
The six advancing teams from Austin were all SEC or Big 12 schools.
The Razorbacks moved on to the NCAAs along with Texas, No. 14 Florida (+5), No. 19 Auburn (+5), Baylor (+5) and No. 21 Oklahoma (+6). Behind those six teams was a long gap to Texas A&M, which carded a 14 over.
The rest of the top 10 consisted of No. 11 Michigan State (+18), BYU (+21) and Virginia Tech (+19).