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CARLSBAD, CALIFORNIA - MAY 25: Signage is seen during the Division I Women's Golf Championship held at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa on May 25, 2026 in Carlsbad, California. (Photo by C. Morgan Engel/NCAA Photos via Getty Images) | NCAA Photos via Getty Images
Over the past couple days, the North Carolina Tar Heels’ women’s golf team was out competing at the NCAA Championships in Carlsbad, California. While the championships will continue through the final rounds later today, Carolina hasn’t quite made it all the way to the end. However, it’s been a good season overall for them, so let’s look back at their performance this week.
The format for the event saw three rounds of stroke play, with the top 15 advancing on. Those teams then played a fourth round of stroke play, with the top eight then advancing to the match play bracket, which is what will be concluding later today.
With a #12 ranking in the country and finishing second at the Chapel Hill Regional, UNC had somewhat of an outside shot at making some noise at nationals. They got off to a slow start over the first two days, entering the third round tied for 18th place. They rallied in a big way in the third round, with their four players combining to shoot -1 par for the day. That allowed them to jump five places, making the cut to the final 15 teams, and within a prayer’s chance at advancing to the final eight.
Unfortunately, the fourth round then did not go their way. In the final stroke play round, the team combined to shoot +16, which was the worst of any team that day. It was a fairly difficult day all around, as only two of the 15 remaining teams ended up shooting under par for the round. However, that ended up sliding the Tar Heels back to 15th place, which is where they’ll finish the championships.
On an individual level, Carolina’s Thanchanok Iadpluem was the Tar Heels’ best performer for the week. Finishing the four rounds at +2, she finished tied for 30th in the individual national title race. The winner in that competition was Texas’ Farah O’Keefe, who was -12 for the week to win the national championship. The other Carolina golfers in the individual standings were Helen Yeung (T-58th, +10), Megan Streicher (T-58th, +10), Reagan Southerland (T-68th, +12), and Marie Prats-Rigual (T-68th, +12).
The team as a whole may have been hoping that they could finish a little higher up, but the Tar Heels got the chance to play for the championship, which is about as much as you can hope for.
Meanwhile, the UNC men’s golf team are set to begin the championship rounds this Friday, also out in Carlsbad. We’ll have the coverage of that after they complete their run.
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