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RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros women’s golf team turned a corner in the 2025-26 season that led to their Southland Conference (SLC) Championship run.
While having a good foundation with sophomore Kieli Saenz, juniors Preston Saiz, Cristina Galban, and 2025 SLC First Team selection Natalia Rodriguez, the Vaqueros brought in a group that would help push the program to new heights.
In the summer of 2025, Houston Moore was elevated to Director of Golf for both the men’s and women’s programs. Moore then hired associate head coach Puthita “Pang” Khuanrudee and they both hit the recruiting trails.
The staff brought in sophomore Miriam Barcalova, Zoe Hobbs, and Pitchayapa Pungpho to round out the roster. The trio came into the season with one goal: to be competitive.
“From an internal standpoint I would have to say the biggest change was competitiveness,” Moore said. “Bringing in those three transfers was pretty huge. It gave the rest of the team a sense of urgency. A feeling of I better work hard, I better get my stuff done because it’s going to be hard to play. We brought in three that made an impact right away. It pushed the ones that were here and we made sure the ones we brought in were motivated and wanted to be staples within the lineup.”
The Vaqueros currently boast a 306 team scoring average, which is an improvement of six strokes from the year before and 10 strokes from 2023-24.
The Vaqueros have three golfers averaging a stroke average below 77.7 three of which include Barcalova, Hobbs, and Pungpho. The trio played an integral part in winning the SLC Championship with them being in the starting lineup.
Down the stretch in the final round, Pitchayapa was clutch with four-straight birdies to close out her tournament and then the competitive side of Barcalova was never more evident on the 18th hole where she didn’t give up after her tee shot went in the water and nearly chipping in on her next shot.
Their competitiveness could be felt on the course, but it reverberated through the lineup as it pushed Rodriguez, Saiz, Galban, and Saenz.
“I think they bring a level of competitiveness,” Moore said. “All of them were recruited under the assumption to compete to win Southland Conference championships. That was kind of the goal. For us to do that in year one was unbelievable and probably ahead of schedule. It’s a testament to competitive drive and to live their teammates up. Don’t get me wrong, Preston, Natalia, Cristina, and Kieli are all competitors in their own right but to get a new taste with the transfers coming in, I think it helped mend the culture a bit. We turned it on at the right time in the spring and you saw that clearly at the conference championship.”
Barcalova boasts a 77.0 scoring average this season after spending last year at Florida Atlantic. She was named Southland Conference Newcomer of the Year and selected to First Team All-Conference honors.
Barcalova finished with a pair of top-10 finishes this season, none bigger than her second place finish at the SLC Championship.
When Barcalolva was being recruited to the Valley, winning championships was on the lists of things to accomplish.
“I had experienced mostly heartbreak in college golf,” Barcalova said. “So, I did not expect to have the type of season we did. Coach Moore did tell me on the first call we had that this was his goal and it was awesome when he texted me when we got back from conference that he told me so on the first day that this is what we were trying to accomplish. We did it. It made me so happy to accomplish our goals. It’s one of the best feelings.”
Hobbs came to UTRGV after spending a season at UAB. After battling through a fall season that saw her compete in just two events, she competed in six events in the spring and posts a 76.9 scoring average, which ranks second on the team.
When Hobbs entered the transfer portal, she wanted to go to a place where she can get into the starting lineup and make an impact. She wanted to get better and help those around her to get better as well.
“Based on the stats, I knew I could be playing in the top-five,” Hobbs said. “I feel like Coach Moore brought us transfers to come in and lead the team and push them to get better. I feel we definitely did in the spring season, so coming in I was trying to get better. I think everyone improved this year, so it made a big difference.”
Pungpho joined UTRGV after a season at Lindsey Wilson. She boasts a 77.7 scoring average after competing in eight events in her first season with the Vaqueros while saving her best for last finishing tied for second at the SLC Championship.
Pungpho doesn’t think she would be here at UTRGV without Coach Pang, so when she got here she knew that she was going to have to work hard to prove that she belonged on a Division I roster and that she deserved to be in the starting lineup.
At the end of it all, she just wanted to compete, and it definitely paid off for the Vaqueros as they lifted the SLC trophy.
“I came from an NAIA school,” Pungpho said. “I knew that coming from there, I was going to have to be hard working and competitive in everything. I was going to have to work harder to be in Division I. I wasn’t expecting to win a championship in my first year here, I just wanted to be in the lineup and try my best to play my best.”
The addition of Barcalova, Hobbs, and Pungpho just might be the biggest difference from last season to this season for the Vaqueros.
Last season, the Vaqueros finished in seventh at the SLC Championship while this year the Vaqueros moved six spots up to make program history.
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