Road to NCAA women's title will begin at regionals

   The NCAA revealed the 72 women’s golf teams headed to four regionals May 5 to 7 and the top seeds mirror the latest Golfstat rankings, as they should.

   No. 1 Alabama, the Southeast Conference champion, heads the field in the Shoal Creek Regional, which the Crimson Tide will host at the Shoal Creek Club in Shoal Creek, Ala.

   No. 2 Southern California, the Pac-12 champion, is the is top seed in the Stanford Regional, which will be played at Stanford Golf Course in Stanford, Calif. Defending champion Stanford, ranked 12^th, is the host and the third seed in the regional behind Pac-12 rival USC and No. 7 Arkansas.

   No. 3 UCLA, the runnerup to cross-town rival Southern Cal at the Pac-12 Championship, is the top seed at the Bryan Regional, which will be played at the Traditions Club in Bryan Texas. The regional is being hosted by 23^rd-ranked Texas A&M, the sixth seed.

   No. 4 Duke, which struggled to a third-place finish at the ACC Championship, is the top seed in the Baton Rouge Regional, which will be played at the University Club in Baton Rouge, La. No. 48 LSU, the 12^th seed, is the host.

   Sophomore Erica Herr, the two-time PIAA champion at Council Rock North, and Wake Forest are headed west to tee it up in the Stanford Regional as the 10^th seed. The Demon Deacons are coming off a solid second-place finish in the ACC Championship and are joined in the regional field by ACC champion Virginia and another ACC rival in North Carolina.

   Freshman Isabella DiLisio, the 2013 PIAA Class AAA champion at Mount St. Joseph, and Notre Dame drew the 10^th seed in the Shoal Creek Regional. The Fighting Irish are hoping to bounce back from a disappointing 10^th-place finish at the ACC tourney.

   Joining Notre Dame in the Shoal Creek field is Big Ten individual champion August Kim, a junior from St. Augustine, Fla., and Purdue. The Boilermakers, coming off a solid third-place finish at the Big Ten Championship, are seeded ninth.

   Also in the Shoal Creek field is Big Ten co-champion Northwestern, ranked No. 8 and seeded second.

   Colonial Athletic Association champion Delaware earned a trip to the Bryan Regional. The Blue Hens are seeded 16^th.

   Also representing the CAA in Bryan will be William & Mary senior Alessandra Liu, the former Lower Merion standout. Liu was the runnerup to Delaware’s Andi Slane, a senior from Temecula, Calif., in the individual chase at the CAA tourney and was one of the individual players invited to the regional.

   The top six teams and the top three individual finishers from a non-advancing team at the four regionals advance to the NCAA Championship May 20 to 25 at Eugene Country Club in Eugene, Ore.