SMU women’s golf enters the Waco Regional as a No. 4 seed, chasing its third NCAA Championship trip in four seasons.
DALLAS - SMU women’s golf heads into the NCAA Waco Regional with confidence, momentum and a pretty clear understanding of what the national standard looks like.
The Mustangs earned the No. 4 seed in a loaded regional field at Ridgewood Country Club, where play begins May 11.
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SMU will compete against Texas A&M, Baylor, TCU, Oregon, Tennessee, LSU, Tulsa, Colorado, Tarleton State, Prairie View A&M and Northern Arizona, with the top five teams advancing to the NCAA Championship in Carlsbad, California.
For SMU, this is familiar territory. It’s the program’s fourth straight NCAA Regional appearance and 13th overall.
The Mustangs are also trying to reach the NCAA Championship for the third time in four seasons.
Their last outing offered both a confidence boost and a measuring stick. At the ACC Tournament, SMU finished second in stroke play, beat North Carolina in match play and reached the final before falling to top-ranked Stanford.
Freshman Kirra St-Laurent said facing Stanford showed her the gap isn’t as large as it might look from the outside.
“I don’t think it’s that far off,” St-Laurent said, noting the matchup gave both her and the team more belief.
Head coach Lauren Mason likes where her group is mentally after taking time to reset following the ACC Tournament.
“The puzzle pieces are coming together,” Mason said.
Senior Emily Odwin is thinking even bigger. She said she believes SMU has the ability to contend nationally, but the first step is handling business in Waco.
That’s the right mindset. The Mustangs don’t need to solve the whole postseason at once. They need three steady rounds, a top-five finish and a ticket to California.
If SMU plays the way it did for most of the ACC Tournament, another NCAA Championship run is very much on the table.
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