Last year, Northwestern wrote itself into history, upsetting then-No. 1 Stanford to claim the program’s first-ever national championship. The team finished the regular season ranked outside the top ten but competed its way to the third seed in match play before taking home the trophy in the final round.
The team’s 2026 spring season is now in full swing, signaling the start of its quest for a repeat national title.
The ’Cats entered spring play ranked 20th nationally. After finishing seventh out of 18 teams at the Purdue Puerto Rico Classic from Feb. 1 to 3, they slipped to No. 25.
The rest of their schedule pits them against the best programs in the country. The ’Cats will be the second-highest-ranked team at their next tournament, the Spartan Suncoast Invitational in Sarasota, Florida from Feb. 15 to 16. They’ll face ten programs ranked above them, including five in the top ten nationally, at the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate in Hilton Head Island, S.C.the first week of March.
After the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate, the ’Cats will compete at the PING/ASU Invitational in Phoenix, Arizona and the Therese Hession Buckeye Invitational in Columbus, Ohio before going out west to the Big Ten Championships in Glendale, California.
If invited, they’ll move on to the NCAA Regionals, then to the NCAA Nationals.
NU lost two golfers from last year’s championship-winning roster, graduating senior Lauryn Nguyen and sophomore Elise Lee, who transferred to USC after playing for the ’Cats her freshman year.
This season, NU gained freshman Lauren Lee, who made her debut at the Windy City Collegiate Classic in September. Arianna Lau also made her collegiate debut for the ’Cats before leaving school with the intent to go professional in January.
Still the squad has retained key pieces from its 2025 championship run.
Senior Dianna Lee, who made the putt that clinched the NU national title win over Stanford, captured her second career victory at the East Lake Cup in October, while the team made it to the final round before losing to then-No. 3 Oregon. Her performance awarded her Big Ten Golfer of the Week. At the Windy City Collegiate Classic earlier that month, she tied for sixth place, and the ’Cats finished tied for team champions. She opened spring play in a three-way tie for fifth at the Purdue Puerto Rico Classic.
An All-Big Ten First Team honoree and All-American Honorable Mention, junior Ashley Yun finished 19th at the NCAA Championships and will be looking to bring NU back to nationals. She matched her career-low score and tied for tenth at the ANNIKA Intercollegiate and won her semifinal match at the East Lake Cup before losing in the championship.
Although sophomore Megan Meng didn’t compete in match play at the NCAA Championships last year, she started this season strong, scoring a career-low four-under-par at the ANNIKA Intercollegiate. She won her semifinal match at the East Lake Cup and lost to the No. 1 amateur in the world, Oregon’s Kiara Romero, by just one hole in the championship match.
Last season, sophomore Hsin Tai Lin saw six top-25 finishes and received the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award. She earned her best result of the fall season, a 16th-place finish, at the East Lake Cup.
Senior Jiayi Wang made one appearance in the fall, finishing 28th at the Windy City Collegiate.
The squad’s sole freshman, Lauren Lee, may be new to the team, but she’s certainly not new to winning. A four-time MVP at Mater Dei High School and four-time First Team All-Trinity League selection, she placed second at the AJGA Brandon Wu Championship and was a California Interscholastic Federation state finalist in high school.
The road to nationals will not be an easy drive. If the ’Cats want to two-peat, they must pull off another upset. Stanford, NU’s rival from last year’s final round, has once again carved out a place for itself at the top of the NCAA rankings.
Last February, the ’Cats were ranked ninth in the nation. This February, they sit at No. 25, creating a much larger leap to national champions in May compared to last year. NU has three months to prove they can do it.
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