When Bailey Tardy was in the 11th grade at Norcross High School, she had already made a commitment to play golf at Georgia. She explained that once she arrived, along with a couple of friends, the Bulldogs were going to be players on the national stage.

Looks like she was absolutely right.

Tardy, now a freshman at UGA, was co-medalist of the NCAA Women’s Regional in Bryan Park, Texas, and helped the Bulldogs finish first. The performance earned them a place in the NCAA Championships, May 20-25 in Eugene, Ore., and marked the first time they’ve escaped the regional round since 2009.

Tardy shot a 7-under 209 to lead Georgia. Jillian Hollis, another freshman, was was fourth overall with a 211 and Rinko Mitsunaga tied for 12th at 215. Harang Lee tied for 42nd at 224 and Mary Ellen Shuman was 53rd at 226.

Georgia’s team total was six ahead of Arizona and seven better than UCLA. The Bulldogs began the final round in third place, but their 1-over team total was enough to push them ahead of Arizon and UCLA, the pretournament favorite.

No other team from Georgia qualified for the finals. Augusta finished 13th in the Baton Rouge Regional, as Eunice Yi tied for 22nd.

Riverdale native Mariah Stackhouse tied for sixth in the Stanford Regional, where the host Cardinals tied for first against Southern Cal.