Junior Toa Yokoyama of UNLV has earned an at-large individual bid to the upcoming NCAA women’s golf regionals, scheduled to take place from May 6 to 8. Despite UNLV’s national ranking of 64th in the most recent Broadie poll, the team missed out on an automatic bid to the 72-team field. The Rebels’ exclusion can be attributed to 27 automatic bids being awarded to conference champions, many of whom were ranked below UNLV. Among those who received automatic bids was Colorado State, ranked 52nd, who became the last team to qualify.
Yokoyama has had an impressive spring season for the Rebels, with four top-10 finishes under her belt. Her performances have earned her a national ranking of 33rd. The Tokyo native, who played high school golf in Florida, reached as high as seventh in February and has consistently maintained a position in the top 20s throughout the spring.
As the top seed among individuals for the Las Vegas regional, Yokoyama will compete at Spanish Trail, one of six sites hosting regionals. The top five teams from each regional, along with the top individual not part of those teams, will advance to the NCAA Championship, which will be held from May 17 to 22 at La Costa Resort in Carlsbad, California.
The Las Vegas regional will feature a strong contingent from the Pac-12 conference, with top seed UCLA leading the group that includes Arkansas, Arizona, Florida State, California, Purdue, Baylor, Oklahoma, Colorado State, Kent State, Xavier, and Dartmouth. Top seeds at the other regionals include No. 1-ranked Stanford, Southern California, South Carolina, Louisiana State, and defending champion Wake Forest.
Another Las Vegas native, Riana Mission, a junior at San Francisco who played at Clark High, has also earned an individual bid. Mission will be the second seed for the Cle Elum, Washington, regional.