SAN ANTONIO — UTSA senior Camryn Carreon won the NCAA San Antonio Regional individual title by six shots and punched her ticket to the national championships with a history-making performance this week at TPC San Antonio's Oaks Course (par 72/6,342 yards).
Entering Wednesday's final round with a four-stroke lead after opening the 54-hole event with a 6-under-par 138, Carreon fired a 4-under 68 to run away with medalist honors to become the first Roadrunner to win an NCAA Regional, securing a second straight berth in the NCAA Championships, which will be held May 19-24 at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona.
📽️ What a week for @CamrynCarreon, the 2023 NCAA San Antonio Regional Individual Champion. #BirdsUp 🤙 pic.twitter.com/jdYCHEYHli
— UTSA Women's Golf (@UTSAwomensgolf) May 11, 2023
Carreon finished the week with a 10-under 206, the second-best 54-hole total of her UTSA career behind only her school record 202 registered in March when she won the Trinity Forest Invitational for her first collegiate victory. The San Antonio native opened the tournament with a 1-under 71 on Monday that put her in a tie for third place. She then carded a 5-under 67 on Tuesday that vaulted her into sole possession of first entering the final day before cruising to the six-shot win today.
"This is an awesome feeling to win this here at TPC in front of my family and teammates," Carreon said. "I would have never dreamed of doing this when I started playing golf 10-plus years ago, but I feel really happy right now.
"I was a little nervous coming into it and everyone was talking about having a home-course advantage, but this course is tough so you still have to hit the shots or it will get you really fast. I feel really good that my game showed up this week. My irons were working well and I was making more putts this week — I actually still left some out there — but this feels awesome."
Carreon was steady to start her final round, writing down par on each of her first five holes. The first-team all-conference performer then birdied the 340-yard, par-4 sixth to get to 7-under par for the tournament. Following a par on No. 7, she fell back to even for the day with her only bogey of the day, a six on the 549-yard eighth, but then closed the front nine with her seventh par of the side.
Carreon put her foot on the pedal on the back nine, recording pars on Nos. 10-11 before recording back-to-back birdies on the next two holes with a three on the 348-yard 12th and a two on the 195-yard 13th. She then drained a 12-foot putt for an eagle-3 on the 471-yard, par-5 14th.
Now armed with a comfortable advantage, Carreon closed her week with four pars in a row including sinking a four-foot putt on No. 18 in front of her teammates, fans and family to secure her spot at nationals.
Carreon ended up six strokes ahead of UCLA's Zoe Campos, the No. 9-ranked player in the nation, who carded a 4-under 212 (70-72-70). No. 44-ranked Mackenzie Lee of SMU and Clemence Martin of Oklahoma State tied for third place at 2-under 214. Altogether, Carreon beat 18 top-100 players, including three who rank in the top 10.
In the team race, 18th-ranked Pepperdine and No. 27 SMU tied for first at 9-over, followed by No. 22 Oklahoma State and sixth-ranked Texas A&M in a tie for third at 16-over. No. 42 New Mexico locked up the fifth and final automatic berth to the NCAA Championships with a 25-over total.
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