WGOLF Preview: Eagles Set for Tallahassee Regional

Monday, May 9

Tallahassee, Fla.

Georgia Southern University

NCAA Tallahassee Regional

Sarunchana Rattanasin is the second Eagle to win medalist honors at the Sun Belt Championship.

5/7/2022 1:06:00 PM | Women's Golf

Live Leaderboard Pairings

The tournament starts Monday at Seminole Legacy Golf Club.

Tournament Name: NCAA Tallahassee Regional
Dates: May 9-11
Host: Florida State
Course: Seminole Legacy Golf Club - Par 72, 6,292 yds.
Location: Tallahassee, Fla.
Format: 18 holes each day; tee times off 1 and 10 at 8 a.m.
Participating Teams (12): South Carolina, UCLA, Florida State, Ole Miss, Illinois, Mississippi State, Miami, Denver, North Florida, College of Charleston, Georgia Southern and Quinnipiac.

Georgia Southern Lineup (scoring average)
Sarunchana Rattanasin (29 rds, 73.48)
Abby Newton (29 rds, 74.76)
Mia Kness (29 rds, 76.03)
Madison Heideman (24 rds, 76.92)
Kaysie Harrelson (16 rds, 80.38)
Sub - Emma Bell (9 rds, 73.11)

Champions of the Sun Belt Conference, Georgia Southern makes its first NCAA Women's Golf Championship appearance. The Eagles (+31) led the Sun Belt Championship wire to wire and topped defending champion Coastal Carolina (+35) by four strokes at LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Florida. Georgia Southern's inaugural season of women's golf was the 2015-16 campaign.

The Eagles are competing against 11 other teams and six individuals. The Tallahassee Regional is one of six in the country. The top four teams and the top two individuals not on those teams from each regional will advance to the finals, which will be played May 20-25 at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona. The Eagles have won their last two team tournaments and finished as runners-up three times this season.

Georgia Southern is one of 42 schools in the country and one of seven non-power 5s to have both its men's and women's golf teams advance to the NCAA Championships. The Eagle men's team plays in the New Haven Regional May 16-18.

This will be the Eagles' third event in Florida this season. Georgia Southern finished fifth in the UNF Collegiate March 7-8 before winning the Sun Belt Championship in Daytona Beach April 17-19.

Freshman Sarunchana Rattanasin earned medalist honors, senior Mia Kness tied for second and Abby Newton tied for 11th at the Sun Belt Championship. Rattanasin and Kness were named to the all-tournament team. Rattanasin is the second Eagle to earn medalist honors, joining Ella Ofstedahl, who won the event in 2019 at LPGA International.

The Eagles' three-round total of 851 at the Buccaneer Classic in the fall broke the school record by 20 strokes, and Rattanasin shot a school-record three-round total of 71-66-68=205 (-11) to finish second. Her 66 in the second round matched the school record, and Rattanasin and Abby Newton each tied the 66 in the Mimosa Hills Intercollegiate. The Eagles' 278 in the second round of the Buccaneer Classic was also a school record, and GS posted eight of the 10 lowest rounds in program history this season. Georgia Southern's season scoring average of 298.38 is the best in school history.

Newton makes her 19th start in the lineup for the Eagles, while Rattanasin and Kness and will be playing in the lineup for the 11th time in their Georgia Southern careers. Heideman makes her eighth career start, and Kaysie Harrelson makes her fifth.

The Eagles are paired with College of Charleston and Quinnipiac in Monday's first round and will tee off the 10th hole at 8:55 a.m.