Regional Roundup: 2025
NCAA D1 Women
The college golf postseason passes all too quickly. There’s an incredibly slow buildup as Fall season gives way to Winter break gives way to the Spring season, and then all of a sudden it's time for Conference/Regional/National play. The end is painfully abrupt no matter where in that sequence you finish. The heartache lingers, of course, but there’s hardly any time to truly savor the moment. In a practical sense, it’s the Doppler effect applied to the athletic experience, where that siren of anticipation reaches a fevered pitch as the moment races past and dissipates too fast to grasp.
Here in the library of college golf’s history, though, we take the time to reflect and relish. You’re invited to have a seat, pour a beverage, and peruse to your heart’s content.
This volume is the 2025 Women’s D1 Regional Roundup and in it you'll find a wealth of links (underlined text) and results.
*Note 1: because of the many pictures and links, this is best viewed on the website HERE. You can also use that link to come back and visit anytime!
**Note 2: each team photo is credited to their respective athletic department unless otherwise noted. Each photo of the teams and individuals participating in the regionals are from the NCAA/NBC Golf Channel Selection Show. And finally, all of the pictured results are courtesy of Scoreboard (powered by Clippd).
WOMEN’S REGIONALS [May 6-8, 2024]
**Read many more great details from Brentley Romine [NBC Sports/Golf Channel] and Cameron Jourdan [Golfweek], who touch on some aspects which are not covered (in detail) below!
OVERALL IMPRESSIONS
Every year feels “different” or “crazy” in its own way, and this year provided its own dose of wild results. Overall there were 7 upsets - top 5 seeds that failed to advance as predicted - all coming from the 2-5 seeds. The record for most in the Six-Regional Era (2022-present) is 8 which happened in 2023. Below are some additional overall data points, noting that these are implied to be in the Six-Regional Era unless otherwise stated:
First time that all 1 seeds finished no worse than runner-up
Four #1 seeds won, which is the most all time (1993-present)
All #2 seeds advanced (second year in a row) but only 50% finished first or second which is the second time that has happened in the last 7 years
First time 3 seeds were 50% or worse in advancing
Second year in a row that the #4 seed had a 83% success rate and the #5 seed was at 67%
Two regionals (Lubbock & Norman) had multiple top 5 teams fail to advance
Became the fifth and sixth regionals to have that happen
#6 and #7 seeds were both at 50% success rate which is the best combined for the two groups
None of the four hosts won their respective regional despite being seeded fairly high (2, 2, 3, and 6)
This is the first time since 2019 a host has not won
There were 14 total substitutions among the Regionals and in every one of those instances the player subbed in matched or bettered the score from the subbed-out player’s previous round
12/14 would be considered “successful” from the standpoint that the subbed-in player had a better score relative to the field in their round vs the subbed-out player’s strokes gained the previous round
WHERE HAVE ALL THE TROPHIES GONE?
You’ll notice that none of the Regional victors are pictured with a trophy this year. This was an intentional change made by the Joint Committee at the end of last season, choosing instead to give trophies to the NCAA semifinalists. While the decision is understandable - at least when considering those were apparently the only two options - it still seems like perhaps the winning teams should get something special to recognize this incredible accomplishment.
NORMAN, OK [Oklahoma]
Rain and lightning plagued several of the sites this year. This regional started at the normal time but impending weather forced teams to try to get in the final 36 holes on Tuesday. While the top teams were able to finish, darkness prevented the last couple of groups from reaching the clubhouse and officially concluding the tournament. Oklahoma - the #6 seeded host team - was always going to be a dangerous contender to displace one of the top 5 seeds, but they ended up having to battle back from last place through the first 9 holes and eventually finishing in 4th through 54 holes. Slightly more unexpected was #7 seeded Baylor - who finished the year at exactly .500 - also jumping in the mix, taking advantage of #3 seeded North Carolina falling down to 8th and #5 Duke finishing in 11th place.
Stanford’s team win was never in doubt, racing out to establish their lead with an opening -12/276 and closing with a 281, resulting in a 3-round 841/-23 total and a 9-stroke victory. That 276 was the best round 1 Regional score since the 2023 team set the record at 267/-21. For the second year in a row, the Cardinal had four players place in the top 10, led by Andrea Revuelta who followed up her ACC victory with a Regional medal. According to Stanford, she became the fifth Cardinal to win a Regional, the first since Rose Zhang to win consecutive events (2023 won Pac-12, Regionals, and NCAAs), the third (Rachel Heck and Rose Zhang) to win both conference and regional medals in the same season, and the third player this season to win multiple individual titles.
Furman sophomore Audrey Ryu had just five holes left to play Tuesday night when play was halted, knowing that the team was unlikely to make up the shots needed to finish in the top 5. She came out and parred all of her remaining holes, securing a top 10 finish (7th) and advancing to nationals as an individual.
Advancing:
[#1] Stanford
[#2] Northwestern
[#4] Michigan State
[#6] Oklahoma
[#7] Baylor
COLUMBUS, OH [Ohio St]
Kansas came storming back in the final round with a team 276/-12 that was not only the best round of this regional but also tied for the second best team score of any regional round this year. The Jayhawk’s win - the first Regional title in program history - is the fifth time since 2000 that a #4 seed has won a Regional, the first since 2014. Coincidentally, 2014 was also the last time that the Jayhawks advanced to the NCAA championship. Kansas was led by sophomore Lyla Louderbaugh who maintained her 36-hole individual lead with a final round 65/-7 to not only become the first medalist in Jayhawk history, but also tied with the Paige Mackenzie [Washington, 2006] for the largest margin of victory in Regional history.
LSU, the #2 seed, also moved up the board with a bounce back round of 289/+1, just making into the top 5 to advance by four strokes. The Tigers were in a perilous position after a disastrous second round 309/+21. Their 20 stroke improvement was matched by host Ohio State (who also advanced) and Illinois (who didn’t), and made them the first #2 seed since 2021 to advance after being outside-looking-in thru 36 holes.
The #5 seeded Houston Cougars made a valiant effort at a comeback, improving by 9 strokes from round 2, but ultimately fell just short. Junior Moa Svedenskloid led the team with an individual top 5 finish for the second year in a row, this time qualifying for NCAAs as an individual.
Advancing:
[#4] Kansas
[#1] Arkansas
[#3] Ohio State
[#7] UNLV
[#2] LSU
LEXINGTON, KY [Kentucky]
Florida State, a #1 seed for the first time in program history, played like the top team in the country, racing out to an early 7 stroke lead after the first round and never looking back. When the dust settled, they had won by a comfortable five strokes for their third team Regional title in the last five years. FSU also extended their streak of NCAA appearances to 9 which is third longest of the active streaks. At the top of that list is USC which coincidentally was the #2 seed in this regional and extended their streak to 27 in a row with their fourth place finish. The biggest surprise of the regional was #6 seeded Georgia Southern who finished T2 for both their highest Regional finish and first trip to NCAAs.
Last year Carla Bernat [Kansas State] advanced as an individual to La Costa, this year she’s a Regional medalist and her teammates will be joining her for the first time in program history. Bernat’s final round 66/-6 included an albatross 2 on the par5 5th hole, which may have proved the difference as she was able to jump over FSU teammates Lottie Woad and Mirabel Ting for the two stroke victory.
TCU’s Sofia Barroso Sa used a -3/69 in her 100th career collegiate round to move up to solo 4th. The #3 seeded Horned Frogs were displaced by Vanderbilt (#4) by a single stroke for the final spot, meaning Sa qualified for nationals as an individual.
Advancing:
[#1] Florida State
[#6] Georgia Southern
[#5] Kansas State
[#2] Southern California
[#4] Vanderbilt
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA [Virginia]
South Carolina, a #1 seed for the 5th straight year, finally got a regional victory (their first since 2017) by a comfortable margin after shooting the best team score each round. Not only was their 11 stroke win the largest of any regional this season, it extended an interesting streak of at least one 10+ stroke victory at a regional site going back to 2016.
More than anything, though, it seems the overarching theme of this regional was redemption. Florida finished T3 (with host Virginia) to finally return to NCAAs after being so close for the last six years. UCLA might be the best storyline of this regional, advancing after losing two players to the pro ranks this season. In the end, all five of the top seeds qualified for nationals and finished in almost the same order they were seeded (1, 3, 2, 4, 5).
Marie Madsen became the first golfer in NC State women’s history to win a regional. With the Wolfpack finishing sixth, seven shots back of UCLA, Madsen’s victory also earned her a spot in the NCAA championship as an individual. She was the only regional medalist this year to advance without her team.
Advancing:
[#1] South Carolina
[#3] Ole Miss
[#2] Virginia
[#4] Florida
[#5] UCLA
**Thanks to Babygrande Golf, you can watch the full replay of every round!
GOLD CANYON, AZ [Arizona State]
Oregon’s 9 stroke victory over host Arizona State reinforced just how mighty the Ducks are this season. Both teams in fact expect to be strong contenders at NCAAs this year. Oregon’s Kiara Romero took home medalist honors thanks in part to her second round 62/-10 which is the lowest single round (both raw score and score-to-par) in women’s regional history going back to at least 2005 and likely ever. Her 200/-16 total is tied for second lowest (again both categories) behind only Stanford legend Rose Zhang’s 197/-19.
For several minutes the college golf world thought there was going to be a playoff between (#3 seeded) Auburn and (#10) CSU-Fullerton, however a scoring error on one of the Auburn cards was corrected, revealing that the Titans had advanced by a single stroke. CSU-Fullerton not only became the first #10 seed in the last 4 years to advance, they also had the second largest deficit overcome after trailing the #5 team on the scoreboard by 13 strokes in the first round; ironically the record is held by Auburn who made up 17 strokes on the #4 team in 2022 (only top4 advanced that year).
The bittersweet consolation prize to her scorecard error being caught and fixed before possible disqualification is that Auburn’s Anna Davis T6 finish was high enough to earn her a spot at La Costa as an individual.
Advancing:
[#1] Oregon
[#2] Arizona State
[#5] Oklahoma State
[#4] Mississippi State
[#10] Cal State Fullerton
LUBBOCK, TX [Texas Tech]
Burdened by the impending weather and thoughts on the infamous 2021 regional that was cancelled entirely, officials in Lubbock opted to start play a day early. They were able to get in the first two rounds, but weather ended up delaying play anyway and they were forced to wait until Tuesday (the originally planed final day) to wrap up the third round. Wake Forest, the #2 seed, built a nice lead through two rounds and finished as the only team under par. Their four stroke victory over #1 seed Texas gave the Demon Deacons their first Regional title since 1995 and extended their active NCAA appearance streak to 7 in a row.
The runner-up finish was Texas’s fourth in the last five years and extended their own active streak to 9. First year Head Coach Laura Ianello now looks to bring Texas their first team NCAA championship and in the process would make her just the second coach in women’s AND men’s history to coach two different teams (Arizona, 2018) to titles.
Tennessee (#6 seed) made the biggest placement jump with a final round 281/-7 to move from outside the cut up to 4th place, earning their spot in Nationals for the first time since 2019. The biggest scoring jump, however, belonged to Iowa State whose final round 272/-16 was not only the best team score of any regional round, but also was an astounding 32 strokes better than their second round score which is the best improvement between two regional rounds since New Mexico did the same in 2005. Like Kansas, the Cyclones ended a regional drought that extended back to 2014.
Plagued by the threat of weather all that final day, the lightning warning horn blew right before Texas A&M’s Vanessa Borovilos had a chance at her four foot par putt on the last hole. The Aggie freshman had to sit and think about that putt for about an hour knowing that it was the difference between the team getting in a playoff for the final spot or finishing 6th. She made the putt, sending the team into a 5-count-5 playoff with Purdue. The Boilermakers advanced with a final score of 2-under vs even par behind a clutch eagle from senior Natasha Kiel.
We don’t like focusing on the negative, but it’s worth pointing out that Arizona finishing outside the top 5 means it is the first time since 2011 that the Big 12 champ will be absent from Nationals.
Florida Gulf Coast junior Lousiane Gauthier eagled her 11th hole which was part of a four-under three hole swing which propelled her from 14th all the way up to the top 5 individually. She eventually finished 4th, two shots ahead of the next player who might have qualified for La Costa as an individual. Given this was the first time FGCU participated in Regionals, Gauthier becomes the first player in program history to make it to NCAAs.
Advancing:
[#2] Wake Forest
[#1] Texas
[#5] Iowa State
[#6] Tennessee
[#7] Purdue
defeated [#4] Texas A&M in a one-hole 5-count-5 playoff
Thanks for reading! We will be doing another Regional Roundup for the men in a couple weeks. If you haven’t already, feel free to subscribe to receive that post and other college golf history directly when they release!