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!

The regional championships where held May 5 -7 (see previous post for details). The top seeds in each region made it to the the NCAA championship to be held May 16-21 at Omni La Costa Resorts & Spa in Carlsbad, CA.; and televised on Golf Channel, ESPN, Peacock (check local listings). Monday TV coverage will be final day of stroke play; Tuesday and Wednesday will be match play. See screenshot below for Golf Channel coverage (time is EST).

Below is a list of the 5 teams and one individual from each region (not on a winning team) moving on to the championship.

Charlotte Region

Winner: South Carolina (won by 11 shots with a final team score of 2 under par). Rounding out the top 5 teams are: (2) Ole Miss, (3) Florida, (3) Virginia, and (5) UCLA. Individual Champion was Marie Madsen of NC State (she is also the individual moving on that was not on a winning team).

Columbus Region

Winner: Kansas (with a team score of 6 under par). Rounding out the top five teams are: (2) Arkansas, (3) Ohio State, (4) UNLV, and (5) LSU. Individual Champion was Lyla Louderbaugh of Kansas (with a winning score of 12 under par). The other low score individual advancing is Moa Svedenskilod of Houston. The one surprise was UNLV (7th seed) advancing.

Golf Canyon Region

Winner: Oregon (winning team score 12 under par). Rounding out the top five teams are: (2) Arizona State, (3) Oklahoma Sate, (4) Mississippi State, (5) Cal State Fullerton. The individual Champion was Kiara Romero (16 under par). The surprise team moving on is Cal State Fullerton which was the 10th seed out of 12 teams. The upset was that the third seed, Auburn, did not make the championship. However, Anna Davis of Auburn is the low individual moving forward from a team not advancing.

Lexington Region

Winner: Florida State (no surprise as the top seed). Rounding out the top five teams are: (2) Georgia Southern who were the sixth seed, (3) Kansas State, (4) Southern California, (5) Vanderbilt. The Individual winner was Carla Bernat of Kansas State. You may recall that name because she was the women that won this year’s Augusta National’s Women Amateur. What is really interesting is she beat the top two players in the world; Lottie Woad (#1) and Mirabel Ting (#2) both play for Florida State. The upset at the Lexington Region was that third seed, TCU, did not advance. However, Sofia Barroso Sa of TCU is the low individual on a non-advancing team moving forward.

Lubbock Regional

Winner: Wake Forest. The wind and rainy weather did not stop the #1 seed from winning the Region, Wake Forest advances and the individual champion from the region is from Wake Forest – Carolina Chacara. The other individual moving forward is Lousiane Gauthere from Florida Golf Coast.

The big surprise was that Arizona, #3 seed did not advance; and Tennessee (#6 seed) did advance. Also, the most exciting situation in all the regions was a playoff between Texas A&M (#4 seed) and Purdue (#7 seed). Purdue won the playoff to win the fifth slot from the Lubbock Region going to Nationals.

As expected most of the top seeds advanced to the NCAA national championship. I still believe that one of the following will win: Florida State, Wake Forest, or Stanford. If it were purely stroke play, Standford would probably win because they have not lost a stroke play event this year; but any team that can make it to match play has a chance. After all, Wake Forest took out Stanford at the ACC in the seim-final matches.

There could be a surprise winner! It’s hard not to put your money on Florida State since they won the ACC Championship where both Wake Forest and Standford competed. But I would not be surprised is South Carolina or Arkansas win because both teams have been playing stellar golf coming into the championship season. Who I want to win – South Carolina. Who I think will win and my final pick – Florida State wins it.