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Blue Devils Conclude Preparation; Set to Open NCAA Championship Friday Afternoon
5/21/2026 8:04:00 PM | Women's Golf
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 average in the spring to go along with winning her first collegiate tournament at the Sea Best Intercollegiate. Malixi, who is from Manila, Philippines, has finished no worse than seventh, individually, this spring. She enters the NCAA Championship ranked No. 8 nationally.
Li, a native of Basking Ridge, New Jersey, enters the NCAA Championship totaling a 71.11 stroke average over the last three events.
"I think two years ago, because the greens were quite bouncy, it caused us to have a much more cautious eye for things," said Li. "I think that can be a good or bad thing, but I think in our case it is a good thing. It keeps us on our toes, but college golf has taught us quite a bit about picking the right spots to hit and being patient with everything."
Freshman Avery McCrery and sophomore Anna Cañado Espinal will make their NCAA Championship debuts this week for the Blue Devils.
So far in 2025-26, the Blue Devils have won the Windy City Collegiate Classic and posted seven top-four finishes. Over the last five events, Duke has finished no worse than fourth.
To stay up to date with Blue Devils women's golf, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching "DukeWGOLF".
#GoDuke
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 average in the spring to go along with winning her first collegiate tournament at the Sea Best Intercollegiate. Malixi, who is from Manila, Philippines, has finished no worse than seventh, individually, this spring. She enters the NCAA Championship ranked No. 8 nationally.
Li, a native of Basking Ridge, New Jersey, enters the NCAA Championship totaling a 71.11 stroke average over the last three events.
"I think two years ago, because the greens were quite bouncy, it caused us to have a much more cautious eye for things," said Li. "I think that can be a good or bad thing, but I think in our case it is a good thing. It keeps us on our toes, but college golf has taught us quite a bit about picking the right spots to hit and being patient with everything."
Freshman Avery McCrery and sophomore Anna Cañado Espinal will make their NCAA Championship debuts this week for the Blue Devils.
So far in 2025-26, the Blue Devils have won the Windy City Collegiate Classic and posted seven top-four finishes. Over the last five events, Duke has finished no worse than fourth.
To stay up to date with Blue Devils women's golf, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching "DukeWGOLF".
#GoDuke
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