Cal Poly Makes Return Trip to Stanford for NCAA Regional

Monday, May 9

Stanford Golf Course, Stanford, Calif.

8 a.m.

NCAA Stanford Regional

Sofie Aagaard helps Kaylyn Noh line up a putt.

Cal Poly head coach Sofie Aagaard helps freshman Kaylyn Noh line up a putt on the 18th hole at the Big West Women's Golf Championship.

Photo by: Owen Main | Cal Poly Athletics

Cal Poly Makes Return Trip to Stanford for NCAA Regional

5/4/2022 2:13:00 PM | Women's Golf

NCAA STANFORD REGIONAL CENTRAL

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. -- For the second year in a row, the Cal Poly women's golf team will travel north to Stanford to compete in the NCAA regionals.

Coach Sofie Aagaard's Mustangs qualified for postseason competition by winning a playoff against Hawai'i in the 2022 Big West Conference Women's Golf Championship on April 12 at the San Luis Obispo Country Club.

Fifteen days later, the team learned it was headed to Stanford again.

"We are excited to compete again this year in the postseason and especially at Stanford Golf Course," said Aagaard. "Last year's event is fresh in mind and it is for sure good to have seen and competed on the course before.

"Stanford does a great job in hosting tournaments with everything included from host hotel, player hospitality to course layout and course condition," Aagaard added. "We are expecting firm and fast greens, thick rough and a course that is played long — just the way it should be in postseason play."

The NCAA Stanford Regional begins Monday on the 6,291-yard par-71 course. First group will tee off at 8 a.m. each day through Wednesday. The top four teams and two individuals from non-qualifying teams advance to the NCAA Women's Golf Championships, beginning May 20 at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz.

The other five regional sites are Albuquerque, N.M. (New Mexico), Ann Arbor, Mich. (Michigan), Stillwater, Okla. (Oklahoma State), Tallahassee, Fla. (Florida State), and Franklin, Tenn. (Vanderbilt).

Stanford will host the following teams, in order of seed: No. 1 Stanford, No. 2 USC, No. 3 LSU, No. 4 Texas Tech, No. 5 Kentucky, No. 6 Iowa State, No. 7 Northwestern, No. 8 Purdue, No. 9 UNLV, No. 10 Cal Poly, No. 11 Princeton and No. 12 Sacred Heart. In addition, six individuals also were chosen for each of the six regionals.

Cal Poly will send freshman Kaylyn Noh, junior Jensen Jalufka and seniors Caroline Cantlay, Vanessa Wang and Elizabeth Scholtes to the regional. Cantlay, Wang and Scholtes competed in the 2021 regional at Stanford. Sophomore Nicole Neale will be Cal Poly's alternate.

"In practice we have been working on longer pitch and chip shots as the greens are fairly large at Stanford," said Aagaard. "Long putts and speed control have been a priority as well as fairway shots with irons where the ball is either below or above the level of your feet. These are all shots and skills our team has already, however we have put in some extra repetition over the past week.

"The top four teams after three days of play advance to the national championship. We will need to have a great week of performance to make the top four as we have some incredibly strong and successful teams in our field, Stanford leading that list as the No. 1 team in the country," Aagaard added.

Noh claimed the Big West individual title with rounds of 73, 72 and 71 for an even-par 216 total and takes a 73.3 scoring average to the regional with four top-10 finishes and 10 rounds of par or better this season, including five rounds in the 60s.

Noh's other top-10 finishes in addition to the conference crown were seconds in the Ron Moore Intercollegiate and the Ptarmigan Ram Classic, both in Colorado, plus a fourth in the Hobble Creek Fall Classic in Utah.

Cantlay finished third in the Big West finals and has compiled a 73.9 scoring average with a pair of top-10 finishes and seven rounds of par or better, including a 68 in the final round of The Gunrock Invitational. Cantlay also placed sixth in the Ptarmigan Ram Classic.

Scholtes was 14th in the Big West finals and has three top-20 finishes this year with five rounds of par or better, including a 69 in the second round of 'The Show' in Las Vegas, and claimed top honors in the Valley Invitational at Bakersfield. Scholtes played only in the spring season and averaged 74.7 strokes per round.

Jalufka, who missed the entire 2020-21 season due to injury, averaged 75.1 strokes over 24 rounds this season with four top-20 finishes and five rounds of par or better while Wang posted a 75.6 scoring average with one top-20 finish and a pair of rounds of par or better. Jalufka placed 16th in the Big West finals.

In addition to the 2021 and 2022 Stanford regionals, Cal Poly also competed in the 2017 Albuquerque Regional. The Mustangs have claimed three Big West team championships in Aagaard's seven seasons as head coach.