UT golfer to compete in NCAA Madison Regional

May 7, 2018 | Athletics, Events, News
By Steve Easton



Junior Pinyada Kuvanun will represent The University of Toledo women’s golf program this postseason when she competes in the 2018 NCAA Madison Regional hosted by the University of Wisconsin in Madison.

The tournament will be held Monday through Wednesday, May 7-9, at the par-72, 6,313-yard University Ridge Golf Course.

Junior Pinyada Kuvanun’s 72.9 stroke average is the best in the Rockets’ 23-year program history.

Kuvanun is the second Rocket to compete in a NCAA event in the program’s 23-year history. Sathika Ruenreong was the first UT women’s golfer to earn a regional berth when she participated in the Shoal Creek Regional in 2016.

A two-time All-Mid-American Conference selection, Kuvanun enters the regional after posting a school-record 72.9 stroke average (surpassing Ruenreong’s 73.8 mark) and tying school records for best 18-hole (67) and 54-hole (210) stroke totals.

The Khonkean, Thailand, native notched third-place showings or better in her final three tournaments. Kuvanun placed second at the Dolores Black Falcon Invitational (April 7-8) at one-over par, third at the Lady Buckeye Invitational (April 14) at one-under par, and third at the Mid-American Conference Championships (April 20-22) at even-par. Her play at the MAC Championships helped the Rockets register a second-place finish for the fourth time in the last six years.

The NCAA Madison Regional features 18 teams and six individuals. The top six teams and the top three individuals not associated with one of those squads will advance to the NCAA Championship in Stillwater, Okla. Six teams and three individuals also will advance from the San Francisco, Austin (Texas) and Tallahassee (Fla.) Regionals.

The Madison field includes seven top 30 teams (according to Golfstat rankings): No. 4 Duke, No. 6 USC, No. 12 Arizona State, No. 13 Northwestern, No. 20 Illinois, No. 23 Purdue and No. 27 Iowa State. The field also includes 24 top 100 players, with Kuvanun ranking 84th in Golfstat’s rankings. Duke’s Leona Maguire is the top player in the field at No. 9 nationally.

Kuvanun has collected a team-best seven top five and eight top 10 showings, as well as 17 rounds of shooting par or better this season. In her two-year career at The University of Toledo, Kuvanun has registered 11 top five and 16 top 10 finishes, as well as 26 rounds where she shot even-par or better.

She represented Thailand at the 2017 Summer World University Games in Taipei City, Taiwan. Kuvanun was part of a three-golfer squad and tied for 13th place individually to help Thailand to a fifth-place showing. She carded rounds of 75-71-75 to finish at five-over par 221 in the competition.

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