After a subpar start to the season, Northwestern came out swinging in a tied-for-first-place finish at the Windy City Collegiate Classic, the team’s third tournament of their 2025-2026 schedule.
Bolstered by strong showings by freshman Arianna Lau, senior Dianna Lee and sophomore Megan Meng, the Wildcats left the Glen View Club in Golf, Illinois with Duke for first place. At the end of the two-day tournament, Lau and Lee were tied for individual sixth place, while Meng was tied for eleventh.
NU dominated the first round of the tournament on Monday, finishing 10-under-par overall, four strokes better than the next-best team. Meng led the charge with a four-under-72 finish, followed by Lau’s three-under-72, sophomore Hsu Tai Lin’s eagle and Lee’s birdie.
The team began falling back in the second round, with Meng finishing above par and Lee and Lau respectively scoring only an eagle and a birdie. However, junior Ashley Yun saw her only below-par score of the tournament, supporting the ’Cats’ score.
The third round saw NU mostly struggle to break even, while its main competitor, Duke, had four players scoring below par. Only one Wildcat, Lee, finished below par, and Lau and Meng managed to go even.
Despite their lack of improved performance, the ’Cats’ dominance in the first round was strong enough to keep them at least tied at the top of the leaderboard, even as their competitors began catching up. In the end, NU tied with Duke for the best performance on par 4 holes, averaging 4.05 strokes, and finished third-best in par 3’s with an average of 3.03 strokes per hole.
The next tournament on NU’s schedule is the Stanford Intercollegiate from Oct. 17 to 19, where the team will be looking to boost their performance in their chase of a second consecutive national championship.
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