TOURNAMENT PAGE
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (May 7, 2022) – For the first time in seven years, the Northern Arizona golf team will compete at the NCAA Regionals beginning Monday in Albuquerque, N.M. at the University of New Mexico Championship Course (par-72, 6,414 yards). The Albuquerque Regional will consist of 18 holes each on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday with the top four teams at the conclusion of the final day advancing to the NCAA Championship.
Senior
Ashley Croft will be the first Lumberjack to tee off at regionals at 8:06 a.m. MST. Senior
Aleksandra Chekalina (8:17 a.m. MST), junior
Lorel Hayward (8:28 a.m. MST) and sophomore
Ekaterina Malakhova (8:39 a.m. MST) will follow. NAU, paired with Sam Houston and New Mexico State, will tee off at hole 10 as part of the final group on the back nine.
"We're very excited. From an expectation standpoint, my only expectation is to go out there and enjoy the experience," said head coach
Brad Bedortha. "It's the first time any of our golfers have been in that environment. I want them to go there and have fun. Just like going to the conference tournament, it's 54 holes of golf so let's be ready for the first round and play until the 54th hole, then we'll add up the scores and see where we're at."
NAU is the No. 11 seed in the 12-team field headlined by the No. 2 ranked team in the country, Oregon. The Lumberjacks head into the NCAA Regional ranked No. 108 in the National Golfstat Rankings. The top nine seeded teams in Albuquerque are ranked in the top 50.
The Lumberjacks – one of five league champions in the field – earned the Big Sky's automatic bid to the NCAA Regionals after clinching their first conference title since 2015 two weeks ago. NAU knocked Sacramento State off the top of the league by carding the fifth-lowest 54-hole score in championship history at 8-over par 872 (288-287-297).
Led by Malakhova, who became the first Lumberjack to win the individual Big Sky title since 2017, NAU shot the third-lowest 54-hole score in program history. Individually, Malakhova tied the second-lowest 54-hole score in program history with a tournament-winning 5-under par 211 (68-69-74).
After a career-best showing, Malakhova heads to Albuquerque with the lowest stroke average on the team at 74.14. She also leads the team with 10 par or better rounds and 77 birdies. Both totals are third-most in a single-season by a Lumberjack, and Malakhova needs just seven birdies over three rounds at regionals to break Sofia Anokhina's single-season school record mark of 83.
Playing in the No. 2 slot behind Malakhova is Hayward, who joined Malakhova on the Big Sky's All-Tournament Team with a tie for fourth at the conference championship. Hayward notched her best career individual finish with a career-best showing herself, carding 3-over par 219 (73-72-74).
Hayward's breakout season includes a current round average of 77.11. However, over her last four tournaments, Hayward is averaging a score of 75.33. In her two tournaments, Hayward has been even better with an average round of 74.67.
Playing in the No. 3 and 4 spots in the lineup, Chekalina and Croft tied for 18th and 25th respectively at the Big Sky Championship. Chekalina shot 9-over par 225 (73-75-77) and Croft shot 12-over par 228 (80-71-77) and are averaging rounds of 76.41 and 76.90 respectively.
Working in NAU's favor will be its familiarity of the course having played at the Branch Law Firm/Dick McGuire Invitational last spring. All four Lumberjacks competed at the tournament last season at the UNM Championship Course with Malakhova being the team's top finisher at 1-over par 217 (71-71-75) in a tie for eighth.
"At conference, we went there and had never seen the course until the practice round, so it's great to have some familiarity of the golf course," Bedortha said. "It'll be comfortable and easy to play the practice round without a lot of stress knowing that we have a good idea of what we're doing. We're going to be at a similar altitude, so there's not a lot of changes from that standpoint either."
NAU last competed in the NCAA Regionals following its championship in 2015, placing 17th out of 18 teams at the St. George Regional. The Lumberjacks' best regional finish is 15th in 1997, which was the program's first regional appearance.
Tee times for the second and third rounds will be determined based on the previous day's leaderboard. Live scoring from Albuquerque will be available on
Golfstat.
To stay up to date with the NAU golf team, follow the Lumberjacks on
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Instagram.
