The 2026 NCAA Women’s Golf Championship is underway.
The best teams in women’s college golf are at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa’s North Course for the third straight year battling it out for a national title. Northwestern is the defending national champion, but Stanford is the No. 1 team in the field this week. Play started Friday morning, kicking off four rounds of stroke play.
Follow along below for live updates from the opening round of the NCAA Women’s Golf Championship:
NCAA Women’s Golf Championship live leaderboard
Follow along here for live scores from the 2026 NCAA Women’s Golf Championship.
What a start for the Trojans, who lead Stanford by one shot after the opening round. Kylie Chong, Bailey Shoemaker and Catherine Park each shot 2-under 70 for the Trojans while Jasmine Koo added a 1-under 71.
The U.S. Women’s Amateur champion has found her groove. She reaches 5 under after her fifth birdie on the par-4 fifth hole. With four holes left in her round, Ganne is looking to set the pace in her final amateur start. Meanwhile, in the team competition, second-ranked USC has raced to a three-shot cushion over Stanford and Oklahoma State.
The senior at USC had an excellent start, birdieing four of her final six holes on the back nine and making the turn at 4 under, which is tied for the lead with Stanford senior Megha Ganne and Bushnell from Oklahoma State. As a team, USC sits tied for second a shot behind Stanford.
It took only 14 total holes for the No. 1 team in the country to tie the lead. Stanford is off to a hot start, sitting at 5 under overall early on Friday afternoon in its search of winning the stroke-play portion of NCAAs for the sixth straight year.
The Cowgirls are no strangers to starting strong at Omni La Costa, and once again they have come out of the gates firing. Oklahoma State posts 5 under as a team, and depending on how Eastern Michigan (-2, 16-18) finishes may be the only team in the morning wave to finish under par. The afternoon wave with higher-ranked teams is beginning now, but if the trend continues, the morning wave generally leads to lower scores at Omni La Costa.
Indiana’s Sheridan Clancy is pacing the field late Friday morning at Omni La Costa. She is playing as an individual but leads everyone, teeing off in the final time of the morning wave. She’s 5 under thru 11 and one ahead of Oklahoma State’s Ellie Bushnell, who posts at 4 under.
The morning wave is roughly halfway through its first round Friday morning at a sunny Omni La Costa, and there are plenty of birdies available for the teams seeded 16th to 30th. Oklahoma State holds the early lead thanks to junior Ellie Bushnell, who sits at 6 under after 13 holes and doesn’t have a bogey. The Cowgirls lead Arizona State by a shot early, with Eastern Michigan and Florida State also lurking. Defending national champion Northwestern is also among the teams under par early.
Who’s going to win at Omni La Costa? Here are Golfweek’s expert predictions.
NCAA Women’s Golf Championship first-round tee times
1st tee
- 6:52 AM — Meijin Song (The Ohio State), Charlotte Brook (Baylor), Erina Tan (Eastern Michigan)
- 7:03 AM — Nellie Ong (The Ohio State), Silje Ohma (Baylor), Jasmine Leovao (Eastern Michigan)
- 7:14 AM — Marina Joyce Moreno (The Ohio State), Malena Castro (Baylor), Savannah de Bock (Eastern Michigan)
- 7:25 AM — Sophie Eppelstun (The Ohio State), Yurang Li (Baylor), Baiyok Sukterm (Eastern Michigan)
- 7:36 AM — Matilde Santilli (The Ohio State), Bridget Boczar (Baylor), Janae Leovao (Eastern Michigan)
- 7:47 AM — Cathryn Brown (Kentucky), Ryleigh Knaub (Louisiana State), Remi Bacardi (Virginia)
- 7:58 AM — Raleygh Simpson (Kentucky), Josefin Widal (Louisiana State), Kennedy Swedick (Virginia)
- 8:09 AM — Samantha Paradise (Kentucky), Taylor Riley (Louisiana State), Mira Berglund (Virginia)
- 8:20 AM — Karlie Campbell (Kentucky), Elsa Svensson (Louisiana State), Elsie MacCleery (Virginia)
- 8:31 AM — CA Carter (Kentucky), Francesca Fiorellini (Louisiana State), Jaclyn LaHa (Virginia)
- 8:42 AM — Johanna Sjursen (Louisiana Monroe), Sheridan Clancy (Indiana), Kirstin Angosta (Texas Christian)
- 12:12 PM — Natalie Yen (Texas A&M), Angela Heo (Texas), Carys Worby (Auburn)
- 12:23 PM — Brynn Kort (Texas A&M), Selina Liao (Texas), Charlotte Cantonis (Auburn)
- 12:34 PM — Sky Sudberry (Texas A&M), Cindy Hsu (Texas), Katie Cranston (Auburn)
- 12:45 PM — Cayetana Fernandez Garcia-Poggio (Texas A&M), Lauren Kim (Texas), Molly Brown Davidson (Auburn)
- 12:56 PM — Vanessa Borovilos (Texas A&M), Farah O’Keefe (Texas), Anna Davis (Auburn)
- 1:07 PM — Yingzhi Zhu (Pepperdine), Helen Yeung (North Carolina), Grace Jin (SMU)
- 1:18 PM — Grace Anderson (Pepperdine), Thanchanok Iadpluem (North Carolina), Kirra St. Laurent (SMU)
- 1:29 PM — Kylee Choi (Pepperdine), Reagan Southerland (North Carolina), Celine Chen (SMU)
- 1:40 PM — Eunseo Choi (Pepperdine), Megan Streicher (North Carolina), Emily Odwin (SMU)
- 1:51 PM — Jeneath Wong (Pepperdine), Marie Prats-Rigual (North Carolina), Mackenzie Lee (SMU)
- 2:02 PM — Thanana Kotchasanmanee (Princeton), Emma Bunch (New Mexico State), Isabella McCauley (Minnesota)
10th tee
- 6:30 AM — Summer Lee (Oklahoma State), Elin Pudas Remler (Florida State), Isla McDonald O’Brien (Arizona State)
- 6:41 AM — Ellie Bushnell (Oklahoma State), Layla Pedrique (Florida State), Beth Coulter (Arizona State)
- 6:52 AM — Tarapath Panya (Oklahoma State), Alexandra Gazzoli (Florida State), Pimpisa Rubrong (Arizona State)
- 7:03 AM — Yu-Chu Chen (Oklahoma State), Haruhi Nakatani (Florida State), Paula Schulz-Hanssen (Arizona State)
- 7:14 AM — Marta Silchenko (Oklahoma State), Sophia Fullbrook (Florida State), Patience Rhodes (Arizona State)
- 7:25 AM — Emilia Väistö (Houston), Hsin Tai Lin (Northwestern), Fleur Van Beek (Missouri)
- 7:36 AM — Alexa Saldana (Houston), Lauren E. Lee (Northwestern), Addie Dobson (Missouri)
- 7:47 AM — Natalie Saint Germain (Houston), Megan Meng (Northwestern), Jade Zamora (Missouri)
- 7:58 AM — Maelynn Kim (Houston), Dianna Lee (Northwestern), Melanie Walker (Missouri)
- 8:09 AM — Moa Svedenskiold (Houston), Ashley Yun (Northwestern), Ebba Liljeberg (Missouri)
- 8:20 AM — Grace Vetter (Michigan State), Kelly Hope (Oregon State), Klara Hurtova (Texas Tech)
- 8:31 AM — Ana Sofia Murcia (Michigan State), Kyra Ly (Oregon State), Cameron Freund (Texas Tech)
- 8:42 AM — Sarisa Pojanalai (Michigan State), Rebecca Kim (Oregon State), Denisa Vodickova (Texas Tech)
- 8:53 AM — Lucia Valderrama (Michigan State), Kate Nakaoka (Oregon State), Maja Ambroziak (Texas Tech)
- 9:04 AM — Taylor Kehoe (Michigan State), Raya Nakao (Oregon State), Lauren Zaretsky (Texas Tech)
- 11:50 AM — Megha Ganne (Stanford), Kylie Chong (USC), Elaine Widjaja (Florida)
- 12:01 PM — Kelly Xu (Stanford), Bailey Shoemaker (USC), Katelyn Huber (Florida)
- 12:12 PM — Meja Örtengren (Stanford), Jasmine Koo (USC), Siuue Wu (Florida)
- 12:23 PM — Paula Martín Sampedro (Stanford), Elise Lee (USC), Megan Propeck (Florida)
- 12:34 PM — Andrea Revuelta (Stanford), Catherine Park (USC), Paula Francisco (Florida)
- 12:45 PM — Swetha Sathish (Arkansas), Chloe Kovelesky (Wake Forest), Anna Cañado Espinal (Duke)
- 12:56 PM — Abbey Schutte (Arkansas), Chutimon Rujiranan (Wake Forest), Avery McCrery (Duke)
- 1:07 PM — Sara Brentcheneff (Arkansas), Anne-Sterre Den Dunnen (Wake Forest), Andie Smith (Duke)
- 1:18 PM — Reagan Zibilski (Arkansas), Macy Pate (Wake Forest), Katie Li (Duke)
- 1:29 PM — Maria Jose Marin (Arkansas), Morgan Ketchum (Wake Forest), Rianne Malixi (Duke)
- 1:40 PM — Isabella Yan (Iowa State), Sofie Engesaeth (Tennessee), Filippa Sundquist (Ole Miss)
- 1:51 PM — Pimkwan Chookaew (Iowa State), Sophie Christopher (Tennessee), Matilda Björkman (Ole Miss)
- 2:02 PM — Alexandra Vidal Rivera (Iowa State), Manassanan Chotikabhukk (Tennessee), Sophie Linder (Ole Miss)
- 2:13 PM — Karisa Chul-Ak-Sorn (Iowa State), Madison Messimer (Tennessee), Mary Miller (Ole Miss)
- 2:24 PM — Nichakorn Pinprayoon (Iowa State), Kyra Van Kan (Tennessee), Kajsalotta Svarvar (Ole Miss)
NCAA Women’s Golf Championship TV information
Golf Channel is the TV home for the NCAA Championships. All times ET.
- Monday, May 25
- Tuesday, May 26
- Wednesday, May 27
NCAA Women’s Golf Championship format
Finals play for both championships consist of three days of stroke play on Friday thru Sunday (54 holes), after which the top-15 teams and nine individuals not on an advancing team will be determined. That is followed by a final day of 18 holes of stroke play (Monday) to determine the top eight teams that will advance to match play as well as the 72-hole individual champion. The team national champion will be determined by a match-play format that will consist of quarterfinals and semifinals conducted on Tuesday, followed by the finals on Wednesday.
NCAA Women’s Golf Championship tickets
Fans must have tickets to attend this year’s NCAA Golf Championships. Here’s how to buy them.
