The fall season in NCAA women’s golf is in the books and the early signing period is fast approaching, so what better time than to hand out some fall awards?
BEST TEAM: Stanford. But Brentley, the Cardinal are ranked fifth and were last at their fall opener! True and true, but since that hiccup at the Stephens Cup, Stanford has won twice, both times against Virginia, and was basically a spectacular final round by Arizona State away from a third win.
MOST VALUABLE PLAYER: Meja Ortengren, Stanford. Two wins. No finish worse than T-4. The junior from Sweden has somehow turned her game up another notch, and she’s past both of her Spanish teammates in WAGR, where she’s now No. 2 behind Texas’ Farah O’Keefe.
BREAKOUT TEAM: Virginia. I had the Cavaliers ranked No. 22 in the preseason; they’ve outperformed that by 21 spots. The No. 1 team in the country has been busy, playing five times, and following a sixth at Annika, they’ve either won or finished second. Jaclyn LaHa has been a major reason for the rise, as she owns four top-4s, including a couple individual victories.
BREAKOUT PLAYER: Sarah Hammett, USC. The Trojans are quietly ranked third in the nation, and their best player? It’s the 29th-ranked Aussie sophomore who was in and out of the lineup last season and wasn’t a starter for the NCAA runner-up squad at La Costa. Hammett has continued to refine her game, particularly around the greens, and consistency has followed – fourth, fifth and 11th before a poor 18 holes at East Lake left her solo 14th of 20 players.
MOST DISAPPOINTING TEAM: Arkansas. The Razorbacks were a preseason NCAA title contender, but they went winless in the fall, including at home, where they never lose. Maria Jose Marin and Sarah Brentcheneff has been as good as advertised, but behind them, no one has been overly impressive.
MOST DISAPPOINTING PLAYER: Paula Martin Sampedro, Stanford. She began the fall as the world’s second-ranked amateur. Now, she’s fifth and ranked No. 206 in college golf. In four starts, she’s not cracked the top 20, and by many accounts, it’s not injury related.
BEST TOURNAMENT PERFORMANCE BY A TEAM: Wake Forest wins Annika Intercollegiate. Much like Oklahoma State on the men’s side, the Demon Deacons kicked off their fall with a bang by dusting a loaded field that included USC, Oregon, Auburn and South Carolina by double-digits.
BEST TOURNAMENT PERFORMANCE BY A PLAYER: Duke’s Rianne Malixi dominates at the Landfall Tradition. When Malixi wins, she wins big. Her first college win, last spring at the Sea Best, saw her shoot 16 under and best the field average by 31 strokes. At Landfall, she won by nine over Wake’s Macy Pate while gaining almost 24 strokes on the field.
MOST EXCITING TOURNAMENT: Folds of Honor Collegiate. Bonus points for this being on TV, too. Kansas entered the final round at American Dunes leading, but the Jayhawks dropped to fifth, eight shots back, while leaving the door open for Arizona, Duke, Texas A&M and eventual champion Florida State, which held on to beat the Aggies by a shot. Louise Landgraf doubled the par-5 18th for the Seminoles to drop to a non-counting score, though Florida State got two birdies on the hole to move past Texas A&M, which had posted at 2 under, while Duke and Arizona couldn’t card a single one.
BIGGEST UPSET: Tie. Indiana wins at Medinah, and Alabama knocks off hosts at Blessings. Let’s start with the Hoosiers, who were ranked outside the top 60 before edging Ole Miss by at shot. It was Indiana’s first full-field win since the 2024 Big Ten Championship. Considering the Hoosiers beat just one team at the 18-team Landfall Tradition less than two weeks later, the Medinah win is even more surprising. Alabama won twice in the fall under its new head coach, Lydia Lasprilla, and is ranked No. 27, so the Tide are more than capable of defeating good teams. But taking down Arkansas on its home golf course that has been sort of a cheat code rankings-wise for the Razorbacks – and by eight strokes – is crazy.
MOST CLUTCH FINISH: Another tie. Oregon’s Celina Yeo at Abilene Christian Intercollegiate and UCLA’s Michelle Xing at Annika Intercollegiate. Yeo, the highly regarded freshman, birdied half of her final 16 holes to win by a shot at Halbert National. Xing closed in 7-under 65 to win a loaded Annika event by one. Xing’s round included six straight birdies from Nos. 15-2.
TOP CONFERENCE: ACC. Behind No. 1 Virginia, No. 2 Wake, No. 4 Duke and No. 5 Stanford, this isn’t much of a debate, even if the next best ACC team is Miami at No. 15.
BEST MID-MAJOR: SMU. This is a close one as Princeton is ranked slightly ahead of the No. 28 Mustangs. But SMU has played the much tougher schedule, and if it can close out tournaments better (49 over in final rounds this fall), this is a team capable of getting to the NCAA Championship.