Golf Finishes 17th at NCAA Central Regional

STILLWATER, Okla. – The 28th-ranked Miami Hurricanes season came to an end Saturday with a 17th-place finish at the NCAA Central Region held at Karsten Creek Golf Course.

Miami shot a final-round 315 to finish the weekend at 66-over 930, tied with SMU. The Hurricanes finished three strokes behind Colorado and one stroke ahead of No. 45 Texas.

No. 3 UCLA won the NCAA Central Regional by an astounding 17-stroke margin. Alabama, Mississippi State, Cal, Ohio State, Kansas, Arizona and Florida also advance to the NCAA Championship in Tulsa, Okla. Florida bested host Oklahoma State in a one-hole playoff for the eighth and final advancing spot.

Kent State’s Wad Phaewchimplee (7-under 209) and UNLV’s Dana Finkelstein (2-under 214) finished 1-2 atop the individual leaderboard also move on to the NCAA Championship as the top two individuals not on an advancing team.

“We’re disappointed for sure,” head coach Patti Rizzo said. “Dani is bummed out also (after narrowly missing one of the top two spots). The team will be playing in a lot of summer events on working on their weaknesses.

“We also missed Leti this week, too,” Rizzo said. “I am still extremely proud of the year we had. We reached our goal to be in the Top 30.”

Freshman Daniela Darquea tied for seventh overall at 2-over 218 after a final-round 73 – the Canes’ lowest score by seven strokes. Fellow freshman Delfina Acosta tied for 38th at 12-over 228.

Kailey Walsh and Rika Park both finished at 26-over 242, while Christina Ocampo finished at 34-over 250.

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