CARLSBAD, Calif. – The Wildcats fought their way into the final tournament of the season and will at last tee off in the NCAA Women’s Golf Championship on Friday morning.
The University of Kentucky women’s golf lineup, which includes just two juniors and three sophomores, will tee off in the first round beginning at 10:47 a.m. ET / 7:47 a.m. PT, paired with LSU and Virginia, at the Omni La Costa Resort and Spa (6,330 yards, par 72) in Carlsbad, California.
Thirty teams reached the final site of the NCAA Women’s Golf Championship after becoming one of the five teams to advance out of their respective regions.
Those 30 teams will play three rounds of stroke play across Friday, Saturday and Sunday, before the top 15 teams – and the top nine individuals not on an advancing team – improve to the fourth round of stroke play Monday. Following those 72 holes, a stroke-play team champion and individual champion will be crowned. The top eight teams will then advance to match play quarterfinals Tuesday morning, followed by the top four teams improving to match play semifinals Tuesday afternoon. The championship match will be on Wednesday.
Big Blue Nation can follow along with live scoring throughout the championship here, and Babygrande has livestreaming packages available for purchase here. Golf Channel will pick up coverage beginning with the fourth round of stroke play Monday and conclude with the championship match Wednesday.
The Wildcats will compete at the final site for the second time since the turn of the decade, while it is their seventh appearance overall. Their best finish came in 1986, finishing in fifth place at the championship held in Columbus, Ohio.
Kentucky’s lineup, which includes Cathryn Brown, an All-Southeastern Conference Second Team selection, Raleygh Simpson, Samantha Paradise, Karlie Campbell and C.A. Carter, had a Golden Tempo-inspired, come-from-behind performance at the NCAA Tallahassee Regional just eight days ago in order to reach the final site.
UK was 10 shots outside of the cut line but chipped away hole-by-hole in a dramatic finish that featured a 143-yard hole out for an eagle on the par-4 No. 18 by Simpson and a course-record tying 65 (-7) by Carter. Even more impressive, it was the first time that lineup – that specific fivesome – had been used all season, with Paradise, who contributed two rounds to the team total that week, competing in just her second lineup in 2025-26.
The Wildcats enter the championship weekend as the 25th seed out of the 30 teams, which is based on their 290.7 (+2) scoring average across 12 tournaments and 34 rounds. The Cats have finished in the top three of their 12 tournaments 50 percent of the time – six times total – including one win at the Cardinal Classic in Simpsonville, Kentucky, in late March. Brown, the team’s stroke-average leader (72.0), has two individual wins, including at The Johnie Imes Invitational (-3) and the Cardinal Classic (-5).
Every player in the lineup can go low and lead the team.
Brown has turned in 18 rounds of par-or-better through 34 rounds this season, including a team best 64 (-8) last fall at The Johnie Imes Invitational. Carter has nine rounds of par-or-better through 34 rounds, including her 65 (-7) last week at Regionals, while Campbell has eight through 34, including a 67 (-5) this spring at the Paradise Invitational. Simpson has six through 28 rounds, including her 68 (-4) last week in the final round of the Regionals.
The field can expect sunny skies and temperatures in the low to mid 70s this week.
For the latest on the Kentucky women’s golf team, follow the team on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, as well as on the web at UKathletics.com.