The NCAA Division I Women’s Golf Championship field will be finalized by Wednesday night.
One regional is already in the books in Lubbock, Texas, while only a few holes were left to be played Wednesday morning in Norman, Oklahoma. Four other regionals have 18 holes remaining on what should be a wild final day.
The top five teams from each regional advance to next week’s 30-team NCAA Championship at Omni La Costa in Carlsbad, California. Also, the top individual not on an advancing team moves on.
As the regionals finish, we’ll recap everything you need to know from each of the six sites, from who’s advancing to who’s not to the best stories:
Lexington Regional
Keene Trace GC (Champion), Nicholasville, Kentucky, Par 72
Advancing teams: 1. Florida State (-15), 2. Georgia Southern (-10), 2. Kansas State (-10), 4. USC (-7), 5. Vanderbilt (+2)
Eliminated: 6. TCU (+3), 7. Louisville (+7), 8. Miami (+10), 9. Pepperdine (+14), 10. Western Kentucky (+20), 11. Morehead State (+24), 12. Fairleigh Dickinson (+52)
Individual champion: Carla Bernat, Kansas State (-12)
Advancing individual: 4. Sofia Barroso Sa, TCU (-6)
The story: Seemingly everything was going right for Georgia Southern. The Eagles hadn’t lost in stroke play in nearly two months, winners of four straight heading into their NCAA regional in Lexington, where they would be the sixth seed as the top-ranked mid-major program in the country. They had scored a charter flight, too, a reward for a job well done but certainly not yet finished.
Then came the curve ball.
“Totally blindsided,” said head coach Mimi Burke, in her fourth season with the program, which is only in its 10th year.
It was last Thursday afternoon, and the Eagles were about to board their private jet when a few players pulled Burke and her assistant, Mia Kness, aside. The transfer portal for women’s golf had opened up that morning, and four of Georgia Southern’s players – reserve Regina Plascencia and Avery Robinson, starter Drive Tunwannarux and top player Louise Reau – informed their coaches that they’d be entering it. Tunwannarux had just transferred from Georgia last summer while Reau, a sophomore with two wins and seven top-5s this season, has recently been ranked inside the top 100 of the World Amateur Golf Ranking. It was Burke who helped develop Reau from a junior player ranked outside the top 600.
“It kind of came out of nowhere,” Burke added. “Definitely tough to deal with. But everybody still had a lot to play for, and everybody pulled it together and put their best foot forward and just knew they had to play their best golf if we wanted to still advance.”
Not only did Georgia Southern advance, it did so with ease, finishing tied for second with Kansas State, another nationals first-timer this year, just five shots back of Florida State. Reau led the team with a T-5 individual finish while freshman Mary Miller shared seventh.
Miller and fellow freshman Kelsey Chen will now be two of just three returners next season for the Eagles, who also signed incoming freshman Margaux Brejo from France. Burke, who played college golf at Appalachian State, is unsurprisingly not a huge fan of the portal, but she hopes the NCAA will at least consider adjusting the window so that it doesn’t conflict with the postseason.
“I don’t think anybody deserves through the week that me and my assistant had to go through,” Burke said. “It was pretty miserable. … But it’s fine. We’ll turn the page, and we’ll regroup. I think some of these kids just need to learn the grass isn’t greener.”
Burke then shifted her focus back on the amazing accomplishment.
“Who knows, maybe this adversity helped some of them play better,” Burke added. “Either way, just happy to have pulled it off for Georgia Southern and the Statesboro community, which has really invested in the golf programs. This team is special, and we could show up next week and shock a lot of people if they can, you know, piece it all together again.”
Chip shots: Florida State now has even tournament titles this season and its second NCAA regional crown in program history, first since 2021. This will be the ninth straight trip to nationals for the Seminoles. Mirabel Ting and Lottie Woad each tied for second, and the dynamic duo now have combined for seven wins (five of them belonging to Ting) and 10 other top-3 finishes this season. … Bernat, the recent champion of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur, is not only Kansas State’s first NCAA regional medalist but she also just led the Wildcats to their first-ever NCAA Championship. … USC extends its NCAA record for consecutive NCAA Championship appearances to 27 as Bailey Shoemaker notches her first top-10 finish of the spring (T-7). … Vanderbilt, the fourth seed, sat in 10th place after the first round before rallying to qualify for nationals for a fourth straight season. … TCU, the third seed, has now failed to advance to the NCAA Championship 12 times in the last 14 years. … Louisville and Miami haven’t advanced through regionals since 2018 and 2017, respectively. … Pepperdine ends its nationals streak at two, as the Waves had to count two 75s on Wednesday and throw out Jeneath Wong’s 77; Wong recently competed in the Chevron Championship.
Gold Canyon Regional
Superstition Mountain GC, Apache Junction, Arizona, Par 72
Advancing teams: 1. Oregon (-12), 2. Arizona State (-3), 3. Oklahoma State (+2), 4. Mississippi State (+11), 5. Cal State-Fullerton (+23)
Eliminated: 6. Auburn (+24), 7. San Jose State (+26), 8. Cal (+28), 9. Virginia Tech (+38), 10. Sacramento State (+39), 11. Navy (+49), 12. Quinnipiac (+84)
Individual champion: Kiara Romero, Oregon (-16)
Advancing individual: 6. Anna Davis, Auburn (-1)
The story: We were headed for the second playoff of this NCAA regional round – or so we thought. For a few minutes, third-seeded Auburn and 10th-seeded Cal State-Fullerton showed knotted in fifth at 23 over. Fullerton’s Davina Xanh had birdied four holes on the final nine but bogeyed Nos. 8 and 9 to close while her playing competitor Anna Davis of Auburn birdied the par-5 seventh and closed in 72 to give the Tigers life.
But that brief glimmer of hope went away in an instant as Davis’ score was corrected to reflect the closing 73 that she actually posted. The adjustment dropped Auburn to 24 over, a shot out of advancing, though Davis will still move on as an individual.
“We are all bitterly disappointed to miss by one shot,” said Auburn head coach Melissa Luellen, whose Tigers have now failed to qualify for nationals twice in the past three seasons. “It really stings. This group will remember how this feels, and they won’t want to feel it again.”
While Auburn was the fourth No. 3 seed to bow out early from the postseason, Fullerton is the only seed worse than No. 7 to advance. It’s the first time in program history, too, that the Titans have made nationals. This bunch, led by eighth-year head coach and Fullerton alum Kathryn Hosch, also won the program’s maiden Big West title a few weeks ago. The Titans, at No. 74 in the national rankings, will be the worst-ranked team at La Costa by far. Not that Fullerton is concerned with rankings, especially after Xanh finished in the top 10 of every tournament last season but did not score an individual regional invite.
In an interview last week, Hosch predicted, “If we play to the best of our abilities, I know that we can finish in the top five.”
That belief, of course, materialized.
Chip shots: Oregon cruised to its second NCAA regional title and fourth NCAA Championship appearance in five years. Romero’s six-shot victory was just two shy of Paige Mackenzie’s NCAA regional record for margin of victory. Romero is the Ducks’ second region champ after Briana Chacon in 2022, and she also is now tied with Kendra Little for the program’s career wins mark with four. Other big news for Oregon was the return of Karen Tsuru, who had been out with a back injury but subbed in for the final round and shot 74. … Host Arizona State has now advanced through seven of its past eight regionals, and the Sun Devils had Patience Rhodes and freshman Isla McDonald-O’Brien in the top three individually. … Oklahoma State, which was led by Tulsa transfer Grace Kilcrease (T-3), has now qualified for five straight nationals. … Mississippi State, which lost its best player Julia Lopez Ramirez to the LPGA last December, also comfortably advance, to a fourth straight NCAA Championship. … San Jose State shot 1 over on Wednesday, the third-best round of the day, but could only climb to seventh, three shots out of a playoff. This snaps the Spartans’ streak of three straight NCAA Championship appearances. … Cal has still not advanced past regionals since 2017.
Columbus Regional
Ohio State University GC (Scarlet), Columbus, Ohio, Par 72
Advancing teams: 1. Kansas (-6), 2. Arkansas (-3), 3. Ohio State (+1), 4. UNLV (+4), 5. LSU (+18)
Eliminated: 6. Houston (+22), 7. Kent State (+25), 8. SMU (+26), 9. Illinois (+27), 10. Xavier (+29), 11. Illinois State (+58), 12. Oakland (+78)
Individual champion: Lyla Louderbaugh, Kansas (-12)
Advancing individual: 5. Moa Svedenshiold, Houston (-2)
The story: After shooting 21 over in relentless rain and plummeting out of the top five with one round to play at the Scarlet Course, LSU’s players were surprisingly loose on Tuesday night. Maybe too loose, head coach Garrett Runion thought.
“But there was a quiet calmness and confidence to them, which was good,” Runion added.
Runion and his players recounted two years ago, at the NCAA Palm Beach Gardens Regional, where the Tigers entered the final round at PGA National trailing by five shots before Ingrid Lindblad and company rallied on the final nine to edge Arkansas by a shot. Current senior Aine Donegan, remembering that day, then spoke up, saying, “Nobody was playing well at that time, either. We’re all playing well right now. We just had a bad day.”
LSU has gotten used to bouncing back this season. The Tigers, who start two freshmen, including star Rocio Tejedo, finished a disappointing 15th at the Moon Golf Invitational in February before topping another tough field a couple weeks later at the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate. Since then, this group hasn’t finished worse than third, though they did get bounced from the quarterfinals of the SEC Championship.
The Tigers began Wednesday’s final round on the Scarlet’s tougher back side. Taylor Riley had an eventful nine holes, which included an opening double, hole-out eagle and 18th-hole triple bogey after she hit the green in regulation – and prompted Runion to quip, “You’re hitting for the cycle.” But LSU also nearly birdied the par-5 14th five times (only Tejedo did not, though she also shot 68) and its counting scorers were 2 under on the difficult par-4 16th. That momentum continued on the front, which LSU’s counters played in a combined 4 under to get in the house at 18 over. At the time, Kent State was the Tigers’ only threat, and with two holes to play the Golden Flashes were just one shot back. But they then went 6 over on Nos. 17 and 18 to drop back to seventh.
“It was stressful, but I liked the spot that we were in,” Runion said of the wait.
He could say the same thing about LSU’s fifth straight trip to the NCAA Championship. The Tigers tied Stanford for first in stroke play last year at La Costa – and that was with Lindblad finishing T-65. Donegan and Riley were part of that lineup, too, so there’s some returning experience.
“We have some good vibes there,” Runion said. “Looking forward to going back.”
Chip shots: Kansas’ sixth win of the season is its first NCAA regional title in program history as the fourth-seeded Jayhawks advance to the NCAA Championship for the third time, following trips in 1990 and 2014. Kansas is also the first fourth seed to win a regional since Vanderbilt in 2014. Sophomore Lyla Louderbaugh, ranked 210th nationally, closed in 7-under 65 to win the individual title by eight shots over Arkansas teammates Maria Jose Marin and Clarisa Temelo. … The top-seeded Razorbacks advance to consecutive NCAA Championships for the first time since 2018-19. … This is Ohio State’s first nationals trip since 2018. Kary Hollenbaugh, a four-time winner this season, didn’t count in the first round (75), but she shot 3 under the rest of the way to tie for ninth. … UNLV was the lone non-top-five seed to get through, as the Rebels will play nationals for the first time since 2015. … UNLV’s qualification comes at the expense of Houston, which placed seventh and still has yet to advance to nationals in about a decade as a program.
Charlottesville Regional
Birdwood GC, Charlottesville, Virginia, Par 71
Advancing teams: 1. South Carolina (-2), 2. Ole Miss (+9), 3. Virginia (+12), 3. Florida (+12), 5. UCLA (+17)
Eliminated: 6. North Carolina State (+24), 7. UCF (+29), 8. BYU (+36), 9. Princeton (+41), 10. College of Charleston (+45), 11. Richmond (+74), 12. Radford (+81)
Individual champion: Marie Madsen, North Carolina State (-5)
Advancing individual: Madsen
The story: It had been so long since Florida had last qualified for nationals that the Gators never once set foot on property at Grayhawk. So, to say that head coach Emily Glaser was relieved when her team qualified for its first NCAA Championship since 2019 was, well, an understatement.
“To be honest, very relieved, but also just really thrilled for them,” Glaser said following Florida’s T-3 finish in Charlottesville, Virginia. “This is a really nice group that has worked hard and gotten better as the season’s gone on. I’m thrilled for them to have the opportunity next week and see the fruits of their labor.”
Florida won four times this season, though it arguably proved itself most at the Therese Hession Regional Challenge, where it finished fifth in a loaded field that included three eventual No. 1 seeds, and then at the SEC Championship, where the Gators placed seventh in stroke play before making a run to the final match. Paula Francisco, second at regionals, has been the team’s best player this spring with now five top-13 finishes, perhaps a byproduct of Glaser walking every hole with Francisco since the last tournament of the fall.
“She’s got a ton of talent, but now we’re teaching her how to use it,” Glaser said. “And she’s really bought in.”
The Gators had finished seventh or worse three times in its past four regional appearances while coming up one place shy of advancing in 2022. But with three sophomores and two freshmen in this year’s starting postseason lineup, the scar tissue was minimal. “I do think there is something to be said for that,” Glaser added.
And with that young group likely comes a sleeper label next week at La Costa.
“That’s an ok spot for us to be in,” Glaser said. “We are young, but even though that is the case, it’s not an excuse. I’ve been proud of them for not using that as a reason to not play hard or not get the job done.”
Chip shots: South Carolina’s big three of Hannah Darling, Louise Rydqvist and Eila Galitsky all tied for fourth as the Gamecocks won their first NCAA regional title since 2017. They have now advanced to five straight NCAA Championships. … Ole Miss has now made nationals six times in the last seven years, as has Virginia. … UCLA dropped three spots on the final day but still finished fifth as there were no upsets in this region. The Bruins are the reigning NCAA runners-up, though they lost seniors Zoe Campos and Caroline Canales midseason and has just two starters leftover from last year’s postseason squad. … Madsen is the Wolfpack’s first NCAA individual champion in program history. She made just three bogeys or worse over her final 36 holes to edge Florida’s Paula Francisco.
Norman Regional
Jimmie Austin OU GC, Norman, Oklahoma, Par 72
Advancing teams: 1. Stanford (-23), 2. Northwestern (-14), 3. Michigan State (-1), 4. Oklahoma (E), 5. Baylor (+3)
Eliminated: 6. Tulsa (+15), 7. Oregon State (+18), 8. North Carolina (+20), 9. Furman (+33), 10. Denver (+36), 11. Duke (+38), 12. Southern Miss (+43)
Individual champion: Andrea Revuelta, Stanford (-8)
Advancing individual: 7. Audrey Ryu, Furman (-3)
The story: There’s an advantage to hosting an NCAA regional, but after nine holes Monday at Jimmie Austin OU Golf Club, you wouldn’t have thought so. Host Oklahoma, the sixth seed in this 12-team field, was dead last.
“You have an edge when you host, but it’s also very nerve-racking,” said longtime Sooners head coach Veronique Drouin-Luttrell, whose 2019 Sooners failed to advance out of regionals the last time they hosted. “You could tell everyone was very nervous, very stressed out.”
By Monday night, Oklahoma had climbed back to seventh place after 36 holes. The door was cracked, Drouin-Luttrell told her players; now they just needed to knock it down. But with severe weather expected on Tuesday, there was a chance that the Sooners would have to wait. When teams got on the golf course on Tuesday afternoon, Oklahoma wasted little time. Led by senior Reagan Chaney’s 4-under opening nine, the Sooners vaulted safely inside the top five. They had between one and four holes left to play when darkness suspended the round but returned Wednesday morning to put the finishing touches on the program’s best regional finish since 2014 and advance to its first NCAA Championship since 2018.
“This team this year is extremely special,” Drouin-Luttrell said. “I’ve said it since August. It’s all about believing in ourselves and really going with who we have. I’ve never seen a group of players more dedicated. We had a great spring but really struggled at SECs (14th), and it’s very easy to get down on yourself after that. But postseason is a new tournament. Every week is brand new. It doesn’t matter what we did all year. What we did at SECs was what we did; we can’t change it, but we can move on from it.”
Before heading to La Costa, Oklahoma’s players will spend the rest of this week taking their final exams. Chaney is set to graduate on Saturday, too. Then it’s back to doing what they do.
“We work so hard,” Drouin-Luttrell said. “I tell the girls all the time, sometimes I feel like I spend more time with you than my own family. But I wouldn’t do anything else. I love what I do, and I love to be part of my players’ journeys, whatever they do. Some of them will turn pro, some of them won’t, but at the end of the day, just being a small part of their lives is what I love doing. And I’m just so proud of them right now.”
Chip shots: In winning its seventh NCAA regional title in the last nine seasons and advancing to a 15th straight NCAA Championship, Stanford placed four players in the top 8, including medalist Andrea Revuelta. A freshman from Spain, Revuelta missed the start of the spring with a right shoulder injury but has now won back-to-back tournaments. She joins Rachel Heck and Rose Zhang as the only Cardinal to win conference and regional individual titles in the same season. Stanford has now won 11 straight stroke-play competitions dating to last spring. Its only loss this season is the semifinal match of the ACC Championship to Wake Forest. … Northwestern is back up to three straight years advancing through regionals, as is Michigan State. … Seventh-seeded Baylor finished the regular season exactly at .500, though the Bears hang on despite Ashleen Kaur’s closing 76 (she doubled the par-5 eighth, her penultimate hole) and advance to their seventh nationals in eight years. … Tulsa fell 12 shots shy of a third straight NCAA Championship appearance after its top player, Romaine Masserey, tied for 49th. … North Carolina became the second third seed of this regionals to fall short. The Tar Heels were fifth heading into the final round before shooting 18 over, the second-worst score of the day. … Duke’s 11th-place finish is its second-worst regional showing ever and worst in the six-regional format by six spots.
Lubbock Regional
The Rawls Course, Lubbock, Texas, Par 72
Advancing teams: 1. Wake Forest (-2), 2. Texas (+2), 3. Iowa State (+10), 4. Tennessee (+22), 5. Purdue (+25; def. Texas A&M in one-hole playoff, -2 to even)
Eliminated: 6. Texas A&M (+25), 7. UC Davis (+26), 8. Arizona (+28), 9. Florida Gulf Coast (+38), 10. Campbell (+43), 11. Tarleton State (+54), 12. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (+96)
Individual champion: Carolina Chacarra, Wake Forest (-7)
Advancing individual: 4. Lousiane Gauthier, Florida Gulf Coast (E)
The story: Purdue’s run-up to regionals left little indication that the Boilermakers would qualify for a second straight NCAA Championship, where they finished solo 29th a year ago. Purdue finished a disappointing eighth at its home event, then tied for 11th at the Big Ten Championship, where head coach Zack Byrd subbed out his best player, three-time winner Natasha Kiel, after an opening-round 80. But trailing the fifth spot by six shots with a few holes left, the Boilermakers rallied; Kiel and fellow senior Jocelyn Bruch birdied each of their last two holes, Nos. 8-9, to force a sudden-death playoff with Texas A&M. That’s where Kiel delivered the best 3-iron that Byrd had ever seen before polishing it off with a 12-foot eagle make to send Purdue through. Click here for the full story.
Chip shots: After two days in miserable weather conditions, Wake Forest built an eight-shot lead over top-seeded Texas. Tuesday’s final round, a day earlier than originally scheduled because of the dicey forecast, brought much better weather and lower scores, as the Demon Deacons cruised to their seventh straight NCAA Championship appearance. Chacarra is the third NCAA regional individual champion in school history, joining Rachel Kuehn and Jennifer Kupcho (twice). … In Laura Ianello’s first season as head coach, Texas is through to its ninth straight NCAA Championship. The Longhorns have now finished second at regionals in four of the past five years. … Iowa State advanced through regionals for just the second time in program history, first since 2014. … Tennessee finished three shots clear of the playoff, in large part thanks to Martina Lopez Lanchares’ 6-under 66 in the final round, as the Vols qualified for their first nationals since 2019. … Texas A&M, the fourth seed, snapped a streak of three straight NCAA Championship trips as it misses for the first time under head coach Gerrod Chadwell. … UC Davis fell two spots on the final day to miss out on qualifying for its first nationals since 2015. … Third-seeded Arizona has failed to advance past regionals in three of the past four years.
