Northwestern Women’s Golf team, ranked #11 in the college golf rankings going into the NCAA championships, are the 2025 NCAA D1 Women’s Golf Champions.

It may seem odd to say that Northwestern was not on everyone’s radar or that they were an underdog; but when you look at the competition they really were not a team people were talking about this year.

Here is journey of Northwestern through the NCAA D1 Women’s Championship.

Stroke Play

Day1 in 8th place (score of +3), Day 2 in 2nd place (score of Even), Day 3 in 2nd place (score of 8 under par), fourth and final day of stroke play 3rd place (score of +2). First place was Stanford at 27 under par and second place at six under was Oregon.

It is interesting to note that the NCAA used to be a stroke play event. If that were true today; Standford would have run away with the championship. Some believe the change was for television and yes, it is easier for TV coverage with match play but that is not the true reason for the change. The championship went to a combination of stroke play and match play to mirror the major amateur events college golfers play.

So after stroke play Northwestern was the #3 seed in match play and would face University of Arkansas in round one.

Match Play

Northwestern golfers were tough competitors in match play.

Round One: I don’t think any analyst of college women’s golf picked them to beat the #2 ranked team in women’s golf, University of Arkansas. But they did! Northwestern won 3&2 (out of five matches they won three).

Round 2 (Semi-finals): Facing another top rated team in Oregon ranked third in the college golf rankings. Again, Northwestern won 3&2.

Final Round: Northwestern goes up against the #1 ranked college golf team, Stanford. To put this in perspective, Northwestern is ranked #11 in the college golf rankings so they really were considered the underdog; especially since Standford took down FSU (which has the #1 and #2 rank female golfers in the world) in the semi-final match. The match between Lottie Woad (FSU) and Megha Ganne (Stanford) was electric with birdies needed to win holes. And for Megha Ganne to beat Lottie Woad was a huge momentum builder for Standford going into the finals.

At first it looked like Stanford would have an easy time taking down Northwestern with Megha Ganne winning the first match 5&4; but midway through Northwestern was leading in three of the four other matches. Northwestern won Match 2 (1 Up), Match 3 (3&2). Next Stanford won the 4th Match (1 Up) and it all came down to the final match.

The final match came down to the final 18th hole and the final putt. Dianna Lee of Northwestern had a one up lead and only needed two putts to win but she loves to hit her putts firm and instead of giving herself an easy tap in on the second putt, she had a nerve wracking five footer to win.

I must admit when I saw Standford against Northwestern was going to be the final match I thought it would not be very exciting and it felt that way watching Megha Ganne take a 3 up lead right out of the gate; but Northwestern showed their toughness and made it a very competitive and exciting final match.

Side Bar: It was very shocking to see the top teams that did not play well at Nationals. Wake Forest did not even make the cut to the top 15 teams. South Carolina, #5 ranked team in the country, made it into the top 15 but did not make the final eight for match play.

Florida State (the team I thought would win) was taken down by Stanford in the semi-finals; thanks to the stunning upset of Megha Ganne beating world #1 Lottie Woad. And finally it was really shocking to see both Arkansas and Oregon fall to Northwestern. It just speaks to the heart of Northwestern to believe in their ability and their team.

Congratulations to the 2025 NCAA D1 Women’s Golf Champions – Northwestern University!