CARLSBAD, Calif. – The ninth-seeded Duke women’s golf team concluded its preparation for the 2026 NCAA Championship Thursday and is set to open action Friday afternoon at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad.
The Blue Devils walked the course Wednesday and then played a practice round Thursday. Duke will tee off Friday, May 22 beginning at 3:45 p.m. (ET) in the first round on the North Course along with Wake Forest and Arkansas.
Seeing action in the NCAA Championship for the 35th time in program history and the 33rd appearance under the direction of Duke head coach Dan Brooks, the Blue Devils are in search of their eighth NCAA title.
“I thought it was a very productive walk-through and an excellent practice round,” said Brooks. “I feel like they were really talking a lot and looking this golf course over. It’s a wonderful course, and it’s better now than two years ago, because the greens have had time to soften up a little bit. I think they’ve thrown a lot of water on the course, so it’s more playable. It was a great couple of days.”
It will mark the second time Duke has competed in the NCAA Championship hosted by Omni La Costa Resort & Spa as the Blue Devils tied for 14th in 2024. Phoebe Brinker paced Duke with a tied for 10th placement on the individual leaderboard. Graduate student Andie Smith and junior Katie Li were on that squad in 2024 and will use that experience to help improve on the finish from two years ago.
“This course is playing a lot different than it did two years ago, with the greens having settled in quite a bit,” said Li. “It’s the same challenging course that I played two years ago. But I’m a different player, so I’m pretty excited to see what this week brings.”
Duke is coming off a third-place ledger at the NCAA Ann Arbor Regional while dealing with very challenging conditions, including high winds and frigid conditions in Michigan. It marked the 24th time the Blue Devils have placed in the top three of an NCAA Regional.
“I always like when the regional tournament is challenging, because it’s great prep coming into the championship,” said Brooks. “It’s literally five days later and we’re at the national championship, so it couldn’t have been a better venue for us. I feel like we’re prepared and ready to go.”
The Blue Devils have been paced all spring by freshman Rianne Malixi, who has carded a 31-under-par score over five stroke-play tournaments. She owns a 69.13 stroke…
The Blue Devils walked the course Wednesday and then played a practice round Thursday. Duke will tee off Friday, May 22 beginning at 3:45 p.m. (ET) in the first round on the North Course along with Wake Forest and Arkansas.
Seeing action in the NCAA Championship for the 35th time in program history and the 33rd appearance under the direction of Duke head coach Dan Brooks, the Blue Devils are in search of their eighth NCAA title.
“I thought it was a very productive walk-through and an excellent practice round,” said Brooks. “I feel like they were really talking a lot and looking this golf course over. It’s a wonderful course, and it’s better now than two years ago, because the greens have had time to soften up a little bit. I think they’ve thrown a lot of water on the course, so it’s more playable. It was a great couple of days.”
It will mark the second time Duke has competed in the NCAA Championship hosted by Omni La Costa Resort & Spa as the Blue Devils tied for 14th in 2024. Phoebe Brinker paced Duke with a tied for 10th placement on the individual leaderboard. Graduate student Andie Smith and junior Katie Li were on that squad in 2024 and will use that experience to help improve on the finish from two years ago.
“This course is playing a lot different than it did two years ago, with the greens having settled in quite a bit,” said Li. “It’s the same challenging course that I played two years ago. But I’m a different player, so I’m pretty excited to see what this week brings.”
Duke is coming off a third-place ledger at the NCAA Ann Arbor Regional while dealing with very challenging conditions, including high winds and frigid conditions in Michigan. It marked the 24th time the Blue Devils have placed in the top three of an NCAA Regional.
“I always like when the regional tournament is challenging, because it’s great prep coming into the championship,” said Brooks. “It’s literally five days later and we’re at the national championship, so it couldn’t have been a better venue for us. I feel like we’re prepared and ready to go.”
The Blue Devils have been paced all spring by freshman Rianne Malixi, who has carded a 31-under-par score over five stroke-play tournaments. She owns a 69.13 stroke…
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