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2025 NCAA Division I women's golf regionals: Players to watch, predictions for each field

2025 NCAA Division I women's golf regionals: Players to watch, predictions for each field The NCAA Division I women's golf regionals get underway Monday at six sites across the country. Seventy-two teams and 30 individuals not on those teams will be vying for a shot at making the 2025 NCAA Championships, set to begin May 16 at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, California. The top five teams and top individual not on one of those teams will advance to the national championship. The match-play final to decide a champion is set for Wednesday, May 21. Regionals include three days of play totaling 54 holes. Stanford is the defending national champion, and former Texas A&M star Adela Cernousek won medalist honors last year. Here's a breakdown of the six regional sites, including a look at the top teams, players and those dark-horse teams looking to play spoiler. More: 2025 NCAA Division I women's golf regionals full fields, seeds announced Charlottesville Regional Course: Birdwood Golf Club; Host: Virginia Teams South Carolina Virginia Ole Miss Florida UCLA UCF College of Charleston N.C. State BYU Princeton Richmond Radford Individuals Pinky Chaisilprungruang, Charlotte Nicha Kanpai, Maryland Isabella Rawl, Clemson Melena Barrientos, Clemson Hannah Altman, UNC Wilmington Paris Fieldings, Howard Individuals to watch Caitlyn Macnab, Sr., Ole Miss: The SEC individual champion has two wins this season but has been playing her best golf as of late. Louise Rydqvist, Sr., South Carolina: One of the stalwarts in South Carolina's lineup, Rydqvist won the Darius Rucker this season. Amanda Sambach, Sr., Virginia: Sambach, ranked 12th in the NCAA golf rankings, finished runner-up at ACCs and has one win this season. Favorite to win? South Carolina. The Gamecocks have struggled in match play in recent years, but they were finally able to break through at the SEC Championship and win the second conference title in school history. The senior duo of Rydqvist and Hannah Darling is one of the best 1-2 punches in the country, and midseason enrollee Eila Galitsky has added another star to the lineup. South Carolina is built for the postseason and a deep run. Non top-5 seed most likely to steal a spot? Princeton. The 10th-seeded team could turn some heads, with Catherine Rao leading the Ivy League champions. Rao hasn't finished worse than T-14 this year and has a pair of victories. She's a catalyst if Princeton wants to find its way to Omni La Costa. Columbus Regional Course: Ohio State University Scarlet; Host: Ohio State Teams Arkansas LSU Ohio State Kansas Houston SMU UNLV Illinois Kent State Illinois State Xavier Oakland Individuals Isabella McCauley, Minnesota Vanessa Zhang, Harvard Savannah de Bock, Eastern Michigan Mara Janess, Michigan Neeranuch Prajunpanich, Youngstown State Jillian Cosler, Bradley Individuals to watch Lauren Clark, Sr., Kansas: Clark won three straight events this spring, helping the Jayhawks to one of their best seasons in school history. Maria Jose Marin, So., Arkansas: Marin has been one of college golf's best players since she debuted last season, and she's in contention for the Annika Award. Rocio Tejedo, Fr., LSU: Although Tejedo hasn't won in her debut season for the Tigers, she has six top-5 finishes and is ranked top 20 in the country. Favorite to win? Ohio State. This may be a reach, but it's hard to pick against the Buckeyes. Ohio State has played brilliantly this spring, collecting three wins. Add in the playing at home factor, it would be a surprise to see the Buckeyes not only in contention but also with a great chance to hoist the trophy come Wednesday. Non top-5 seed most likely to steal a spot? Kent State. One of the most impressive streaks in college golf is the Kent State women have won every single MAC Championship since the conference's inception. Playing close to home in Columbus should help the Golden Flashes. Gold Canyon Regional Course: Superstition Mountain G&CC Host: Arizona State Teams Oregon Arizona State Auburn Mississippi State Oklahoma State California Virginia Tech San Jose State Sacramento State Cal State Fullerton Navy Quinnipiac Individuals Vivian Lu, Washington Jasmine Leovao, Long Beach State Janae Leovao, Long Beach State Jensen Jaluska, Cal Poly Daniela Campillo, ULM Maddie Montoya, Montana State Individuals to watch Anna Davis, So., Auburn: Ranked 21st in the country, Davis has two wins this year, including this spring at the Charles Schwab Women's Collegiate. Patience Rhodes, So., Arizona State: Rhodes has been a mark of consistency for the Sun Devils this year, with seven top-10 finishes in 10 starts. Kiara Romero, So., Oregon: Romero won the Big 10 Championship for her first win this year and is ranked third in the NCAA golf rankings. Favorite to win? Oregon. It's a de-facto home game for Arizona State, but Oregon, coming off a win at the Big 10 Championship, is the favorite. The Ducks have been stellar this season and even stronger in the spring. With Romero leading the way, Oregon has a chance to win the national title. Non top-5 seed most likely to steal a spot? UNLV. The Mountain West champs have had a consistent year with two victories and five runner-up finishes. This could be a regional where multiple teams outside the top-five seeds sneak in, and UNLV could be one of them. Lexington Regional Course: Keene Trace GC (Champions); Host: Kentucky Teams Florida State USC TCU Vanderbilt Kansas State Georgia Southern Pepperdine Louisville Miami Western Kentucky Morehead State Fairleigh Dickinson Individuals Emma Bunch, New Mexico State Gabi NiCastro, Samford Marta Lopez Echevarria, Kentucky Madison Dabagia, Indiana Caroline Smith, Indiana Jasmine Driscoll, Ball State Individuals to watch Jasmine Koo, Fr., USC: If the Annika Award was given out after the fall, it would've gone to Koo. She hasn't had as strong of a spring as she did fall, but she remains one of the best players in the country for a reason. Gabi NiCastro, So., Samford: NiCastro is tied with FSU's Mirabel Ting for the most wins in Division I with 5. The Regional will be her biggest test yet. Mirabel Ting, Jr., Florida State: As mentioned, Ting has five wins this year and is first in the NCAA golf rankings. She has lost to only eight golfers all year. Favorite to win? Florida State. The Seminoles have the two best players in college golf this season in Ting and fellow junior Lottie Woad, the top-ranked amateur in the world. USC had a strong start to the year but has played below its ceiling in two of its past three starts. However, those two teams are likely to duke it out for the title. Non top-5 seed most likely to steal a spot? Western Kentucky. The Hilltoppers are playing in a home game after winning the Conference USA title. Catie Craig is the star for Western Kentucky, and if she can have a stellar week and her teammates follow, watch out for Big Red. Lubbock Regional Course: The Rawls Course; Host: Texas Tech Teams Texas Wake Forest Arizona Texas A&M Iowa State Tennessee Purdue Campbell UC Davis Florida Gulf Coast Tarleton State Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Individuals Ryann Honea, Abilene Christian Chantal El Chaib, Georgia Klara Hurtova, Texas Tech Kara Kaneshiro, Colorado State Yvonne Chamness, Texas State Julia McLaughlin, High Point Individuals to watch Carolina Chacarra, Sr., Wake Forest: Chacarra is the lone player left in the lineup that won a national title two years ago for the Demon Deacons, and her great play has continued. Lauren Kim, So., Texas: Kim is the first half of a dynamic Texas duo, ranked ninth in the NCAA golf rankings with one win this season. Farah O'Keefe, So., Texas: As mentioned, the other half of the Longhorns' duo. O'Keefe hasn't won this year, but her worst finish is T-26, coming in the season opener. Favorite to win? Texas. As mentioned above, Texas has arguably two of the best three players in the field. The Longhorns are the favorite in this field, but Wake Forest has an argument, too. This could be another regional where the top two teams are the favorite to battle it out in the West Texas winds. Non top-5 seed most likely to steal a spot? Purdue. It has been a mixed bag of results for Purdue this season. When the Boilermakers are good, they're good. But when it's not clicking, it's not pretty. With everything on the line, expect Purdue to challenge a top-five spot. Norman Regional Course: Jimmie Austin OU GC; Host: Oklahoma Teams Stanford Northwestern North Carolina Michigan State Duke Oklahoma Baylor Oregon State Tulsa Denver Furman Southern Miss Individuals Riana Mission, San Francisco Grace Jin, Sam Houston Cynthia Zhang, Boston College Ffion Tynan, Missouri Amelia Guo, Sam Houston Zoe Pinillos, Augusta Individuals to watch Paula Martin Sampedro, So., Stanford: Sampedro is one of four Stanford players to win an individual event this year, and she has two trophies: The Molly and Juli Inkster. Lauryn Nguyen, Sr., Northwestern: Nguyen has one win at the Silverado Showdown, and she's the best player for second-seeded Northwestern. Meja Ortengren, Fr., Stanford: There are numerous Stanford players who could be picked, but the freshman has been stellar in her debut season. Her worst finish is T-10. Favorite to win? Stanford. It has been more than a year since the Cardinal lost in stroke play, and that isn't expected to change at regionals. The Cardinal remain the favorites for the NCAA Championship, and the regional is just the first stop on that path. Non top-5 seed most likely to steal a spot? Oklahoma. It's really hard not to pick Baylor, a team that squeaked in the field right at .500 on the season, but a home game for the Sooners on what's expected to be a wet golf course should be a huge advantage.