Iowa State women’s golf came to the NCAA Regionals in Louisville, Kentucky, off a high, claiming their first-ever Big 12 Championship in Dallas, Texas, just a couple of weeks prior. The Cyclones’ appearance also meant a 16th straight appearance in the NCAA Regionals.
With a shot at heading to the NCAA Championships in Carlsbad, California, the Cyclones would need to finish inside the top five in a field of 12 teams.
Iowa State would do just that, tying for fourth place with Ole Miss at -9, the third time the Cyclones have appeared and the first time they’ve made the Championships in back-to-back years.
Cyclones advance despite on and off scoring
Iowa State’s three rounds were, on and off, to say the least. The first round ended at -1 for the Cyclones, with three golfers finishing even and sophomore Nichakorn Pinprayoon being the only one to break par, shooting a 71 (-1).
Despite the slow start, Iowa State clawed back and had the third-best second round, shooting -12 in the round and giving the Cyclones a score of -13.
Senior Pammy Chookaew’s second round was historic, shooting a 67 (-5) on the day. That score puts her in the Cyclone record books, with the second-lowest scoring round for the program in an NCAA-sanctioned event.
All five Cyclones finished below par, with sophomore Alexandra Vidal ending with a 69 (-3), Sophomore Isabella Yan and Chookaew both ending with a 70 (-2) and senior Karisa Chul-Ak-Sorn’s score being cut, but still shooting a 71 (-1).
Round three was a tricky day for all teams, with winds up to 15 miles per hour; only one of the 12 programs finished the round below par. Ole Miss came back to tie Iowa State after a third-round score of -2 to give them a total of -9.
Tying at -9 means Iowa State didn’t have the day they might’ve wanted, with the Cyclones shooting +4.
Iowa State could have had an individual fourth place up until hole 18, where, unfortunately for the Cyclones, Yan shot bogey. Junior Sophie Linder of Ole Miss shot a birdie on hole 18, propelling the team to fourth after being down two shots on the penultimate hole, 17.
Stand out stats
Iowa State shot very consistently throughout the Louisville Regional, tying for the second-most pars alongside Charleston at 177 and behind Indiana at 186.
That consistency became apparent as well on par 4’s, with the Cyclones performing as the second-best team on par 4’s with a combined total of +3.
Iowa State avoided disaster by leading the competition alongside Ole Miss with the fewest double bogeys, or worse, throughout the event with just three.
Two of those double bogeys came on the third and final day, with Vidal shooting a six on the par 4 hole one, and Yan shooting a seven on the par 5 hole 17.
Despite Chul-Ak-Sorn finishing in 20th, she was the best golfer on par 5’s throughout the entire field, shooting a combined -8.
What’s next
Iowa State will head to Southern California for a shot at the NCAA Women’s Golf Championships,
The Cyclones will make just their third appearance in program history, and their second in a row, after appearing in 2025.
Iowa State will want to do better than its last time out, where it finished just outside of the top 16 after round three, giving it no shot at a fourth round of golf.
The trip out west will be Iowa State’s longest competition of the year, spanning from May 22-27.
Iowa State scorecard
T-13 Pinprayoon 71-70-73 (-2)
T-20 Chul-Ak-Sorn 72-71-72 (-1)
T-20 Chookaew 76-67-72 (-1)
T-30 Vidal 72-69-76 (+1)
T-30 Yan 72-70-75 (+1)
Team results
- Auburn (-17)
- Houston (-11)
- Arkansas (-10)
- Iowa State and Ole Miss (-9)
Cut Line (-9)
- Virginia Tech (-4)
- Kansas State (E)
- Indiana (+3)
9. Xavier (+10) - Charleston (+12)
11. Western Kentucky (+40) - Murray State (+56)
