Tampa Women's Golf Earns First NCAA Invite
INDIANAPOLIS - The field of teams earning a bid to the 2019 NCAA Division II Women's Golf Tournament was unveiled, with the University of Tampa receiving the program's first-ever team bid in the sport.
Head coach Missey Jones leads a squad who received national recognition all season, most recently playing to a fourth-place finish at the 2019 Sunshine State Conference Championships. The Spartans are currently No. 19 in the nation as their top individual, two-time All-American Kiira Riihijarvi, is No. 2 among all players in Division II.
Riihijarvi, a junior from Oulu, Finland, is coming off a first-place finish at the SSC Championships. She already has four first-place finishes in 2018-19 and six in her three-year collegiate career at Tampa. Her first came at the 2017 NCAA South Super Regional. She would follow with a third-place finish at the regionals as a sophomore, earning an invite to the NCAA Championships both seasons.
The NCAA South Regional will take place at Cleveland (Tenn.) Country Club. The super regional competition will be conducted May 6-8. Each site will consist of both team and individual competition conducted concurrently with 12 teams and 6 individuals from non-qualifying teams at each site. All participants will compete through the 54 holes of competition. The top four teams along with the top four individuals not with a team from each super regional will advance to the championships.
The championships will be held May 14-18 at PGA National Resort and Spa in West Palm Beach, Florida. The number of participants that qualify for the finals is 96.