The Arizona Wildcats women's golf is considered one of the best in all of women's collegiate golf, dating back to their first season in 1979. Since they have won three
national championships
A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the best team, indi ...
in 1996, 2000, and 2018. The Wildcat Women have also had four individual national champions with
Susan Slaughter in (
1990
File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...
),
Annika Sörenstam
Annika Charlotta Sörenstam (; born 9 October 1970) is a Swedish professional golfer. She is regarded as one of the best female golfers in history. Before stepping away from competitive golf at the end of the 2008 season, she had won 90 inter ...
in (
1991
File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...
),
Marisa Baena
Marisa Isabel Baena (born 1 June 1977) is a Colombian golfer who plays on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour.
Baena was born in Pereira, Colombia. She started playing golf at the age of six. She attended the University of Arizona in the United States and ...
in (
1996
File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...
) and Jenna Daniels in (
2000
File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...
).
On August 4, 2023, Arizona announced it would join the
Big 12 Conference
The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its ...
along with
Arizona State
Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...
,
Colorado
Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...
, and
Utah
Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...
beginning in the 2024-25 academic year.
Members of the Wildcat Women's program have gone on to have huge amounts of success on the
LPGA
The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) is an American organization for female golfers. The organization is headquartered at the LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Florida, and is best known for running the LPGA Tour, a series of weekl ...
tour, led by 8-time LPGA Player of the Year
Annika Sörenstam
Annika Charlotta Sörenstam (; born 9 October 1970) is a Swedish professional golfer. She is regarded as one of the best female golfers in history. Before stepping away from competitive golf at the end of the 2008 season, she had won 90 inter ...
and 4-time LPGA Player of the Year
Lorena Ochoa
Lorena Ochoa Reyes (; born 15 November 1981) is a Mexican former professional golfer who played on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour from 2003 to 2010. She was the top-ranked female golfer in the world for 158 consecutive and total weeks (both are LPGA ...
. Sörenstam is regarded as one of the best female golfers in history.
Before stepping away from competitive golf at the end of the 2008 season, she had won 90 international tournaments as a professional, making her the female golfer with the most wins to her name. She has won 72 official
LPGA
The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) is an American organization for female golfers. The organization is headquartered at the LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Florida, and is best known for running the LPGA Tour, a series of weekl ...
tournaments including ten
majors
Jonathan Michael Majors (born September 7, 1989)Majors in is an American actor. He rose to prominence after starring in the independent feature film ''The Last Black Man in San Francisco'' (2019). In 2020, he garnered wider notice for portraying ...
and 18 other tournaments internationally, and she tops the LPGA's career money list with earnings of over $22 million—over $2 million ahead of
her nearest rival while playing 187 fewer events. Since 2006, Sörenstam has held dual American and Swedish citizenship.
The winner of a record eight
Player of the Year
Several sports leagues honour their best player with an award called Player of the Year (POY) . In the United States, this type of award is usually called a Most Valuable Player award.
Association football
In association football, this award is he ...
awards, and six
Vare Trophies given to the LPGA player with the lowest seasonal scoring average, she is the only female golfer to shoot a 59 in competition. She holds various all-time scoring records including the lowest season scoring average: 68.6969 in 2004. Representing Europe in the
Solheim Cup
The Solheim Cup is a biennial golf tournament for professional women golfers contested by teams representing Europe and the United States. It is named after the Norwegian-American golf club manufacturer Karsten Solheim, who was a driving force beh ...
on eight occasions between 1994 and 2007, Sörenstam was the event's
all-time leading points earner until her record was surpassed by England's
Laura Davies
Dame Laura Jane Davies, (born 5 October 1963) is an English female professional golfer. She has achieved the status of her nation's most accomplished female golfer of modern times, being the first non-American to finish at the top of the LPGA ...
during the
2011 Solheim Cup
The 2011 Solheim Cup was the 12th Solheim Cup matches, held 23–25 September in Ireland at Killeen Castle in County Meath, northwest of Dublin. The biennial matches are a three-day contest for professional female golfers, between teams of 12 t ...
. Sörenstam also was captain of the
2017
File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...
European Solheim Cup team. In 2003, Sörenstam played in the
Bank of America Colonial
The Colonial National Invitation, titled for sponsorship reasons as the Charles Schwab Challenge since 2019, is a professional golf tournament in Texas on the PGA Tour, played annually in May in Fort Worth at Colonial Country Club, which organize ...
tournament to become the first woman to play in a
PGA Tour
The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also k ...
event since 1945. On 2 December 2020, she was appointed president of the
International Golf Federation
The International Golf Federation (IGF) was founded in 1958 and is the international federation recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as the world governing body for golf. The IGF has two membership categories representing the ...
from 1 January 2021. On 7 January 2021, she received the
Presidential Medal of Freedom
The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian award of the United States, along with the Congressional Gold Medal. It is an award bestowed by the president of the United States to recognize people who have made "an especially merito ...
from President
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...
.
Lorena Ochoa was the
top-ranked female golfer in the world for 158 consecutive and total weeks (both are LPGA Tour records), from 23 April 2007 to her retirement on 2 May 2010, at the age of 28 years old. As the first Mexican golfer of either gender to be ranked number one in the world,
she is considered the best Mexican golfer and the best Latin American female golfer of all time. Ochoa was inducted into the
World Golf Hall of Fame
The World Golf Hall of Fame is located at World Golf Village near St. Augustine, Florida, in the United States, and it is unusual among sports halls of fame in that a single site honors both men and women. It is supported by a consortium of 26 go ...
in 2017.
Yearly Record
Source
Team Tournament Wins (82)
Source:
:*1982 – Lady Aztec Invitational
:*1983 – Wildcat Invitational
:*1988 – Washington Invitational
:*1988 – Dick McGuire Invitational
:*1988 – Edean Ihlanfeldt Invitational
:*1989 – Wildcat Invitational
:*1989 – Shiseido Cup International
:*1989 – Edean Ihlanfeldt Invitational
:*1990 – Border Conference Championship
:*1990 – Oregon Invitational
:*1991 – Stanford Invitational
:*1991 – Wildcat Invitational
:*1991 – UCF Rotary Classic
:*1991 – Golfsmith Betsy Rawls Longhorn Invitational
:*1991 – Rainbow Wahine Invitational
:*1991 – Dick McGuire Invitational
:*1991 – Lady Sun Devil Invitational
:*1991 – Edean Ihlanfeldt Invitational
:*1992 – Wildcat Invitational
:*1992 – Golfsmith Betsy Rawls Classic
:*1992 – Rainbow Wahine Invitational
:*1992 – Pac-10 Championships (1)
:*1996 – LSU Fairwood Invitational
:*1996 – Rainbow Wahine Invitational
:*1996 – Buckeye Invitational
:*1996 – NCAA West Regional
:*1996 – NCAA Championships (1)
:*1996 – Dick McGuire Invitational
:*1996 – Rolex NCAA Preview
:*1997 – LSU Fairwood Invitational
:*1997 – PING/ASU Invitational
:*1997 – Pac-10 Championships (2)
:*1997 – Rolex NCAA Preview
:*1998 – Pac-10 Championships (3)
:*1998 – NCAA West Regional
:*1998 – Stanford Intercollegiate
:*1998 – Golf World Invitational
:*1999 – Arizona Invitational
:*1999 – Rainbow Wahine Invitational
:*1999 – Dick McGuire Invitational
:*2000 – Golf World Invitational
:*2000 – TRW Regional Challenge
:*2000 – Wildcat Invitational
:*2000 – Rainbow Wahine Invitational
:*2000 – PING/ASU Invitational
:*2000 – Pac-10 Championships (4)
:*2000 – NCAA West Regional
:*2000 – NCAA Championships (2)
:*2000 – Dick McGuire Invitational
:*2000 – Stanford Pepsi Invitational
:*2001 – TRW Regional Challenge
:*2001 – Wildcat Invitational
:*2001 – Pac-10 Championships (5)
:*2001 – NCAA West Regional
:*2002 – Pac-10 Championships (6)
:*2003 – Edean Ihlanfeldt Invitational
:*2010 – Las Vegas Collegiate Showdown
:*2010 – Pac-10 Championships (7)
:*2010 – NCAA West Regional
:*2010 – Topy Cup
:*2011 – Wildcat Invitational
:*2012 – Wildcat Invitational
:*2012 – UNLV Invitational
:*2012 – Mason Rudolph Championship
:*2012 – Windy City Collegiate Classic
:*2013 – Dr. Donnis Thompson Invitational
:*2014 – SunTrust Gator Invitational
:*2015 – SunTrust Gator Invitational
:*2015 – PING/ASU Invitational
:*2015 – Pac-12 Championships (8)
:*2016 – Wildcat Invitational
:*2017 – Mountain View Collegiate
:*2018 – Hawkeye El Tigre Invitational
:*2018 – PING/ASU Invitational
:*
2018
File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...
– NCAA Championships (3)
:*2019 – Pac-12 Preview
:*2019 – UNLV Rebel Beach Invitational
:*2019 – Hawkeye El Tigre Invitational
:*2020 – Pac-12 Preview
:*2020 – Wildcat Invitational
Individual Champions
Source:
NCAA
Arizona has had 4 individuals claim the NCAA Individual Championship on 4 occasions.
Regional
Conference
Arizona has had 5 separate golfers win a conference title on 5 separate occasions.
National Honors
Source
:NCAA Coach of the Year
:*1996 – Kim Haddow
:Pac-10/12 Coach of the Year
:*1992 – Kim Haddow
:*1998 – Rick LaRose
:*2000 – Todd McCorkle
:*2010 – Laura Ianello
:*2019 – Laura Ianello (Co-COY)
:
US Women's Amateur Champions
:*1996 – Heather Graff (US Public Links)
:*1997 –
Marisa Baena
Marisa Isabel Baena (born 1 June 1977) is a Colombian golfer who plays on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour.
Baena was born in Pereira, Colombia. She started playing golf at the age of six. She attended the University of Arizona in the United States and ...
(Runner Up)
:*2000 – Laura Myercough (Runner Up)
:National College Player of the Year
:*1991 –
Annika Sörenstam
Annika Charlotta Sörenstam (; born 9 October 1970) is a Swedish professional golfer. She is regarded as one of the best female golfers in history. Before stepping away from competitive golf at the end of the 2008 season, she had won 90 inter ...
(NGCA, Golfweek)
:*1996 –
Marisa Baena
Marisa Isabel Baena (born 1 June 1977) is a Colombian golfer who plays on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour.
Baena was born in Pereira, Colombia. She started playing golf at the age of six. She attended the University of Arizona in the United States and ...
(Honda Award, NGCA)
:*1997 – Marisa Baena (Honda Award, NGCA)
:*2000 – Jenna Daniels (Honda Award, NGCA)
:*2001 –
Lorena Ochoa
Lorena Ochoa Reyes (; born 15 November 1981) is a Mexican former professional golfer who played on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour from 2003 to 2010. She was the top-ranked female golfer in the world for 158 consecutive and total weeks (both are LPGA ...
(NGCA)
:*2002 – Lorena Ochoa (NGCA)
:*2003 –
Erica Blasberg
Erica Paige Blasberg (July 14, 1984 – May 9, 2010) was an American professional golfer who played on the LPGA Tour. She attended the University of Arizona, and was the country's number 1 ranked college player as a freshman. She won the 2004 Lac ...
(Golfweek Magazine)
:Pac-10/12 Player of the Year
:*2003 – Erica Blasberg
:National Freshman of the Year
:*2001 – Lorena Ochoa (WGCA)
:*2003 – Erica Blasberg (WGCA)
:*2020 – Vivian Hou (WGCA)
:Pac-10/12 Freshman of the Year
:*2001 – Lorena Ochoa
:*2003 – Erica Blasberg
:
Curtis Cup
The Curtis Cup is the best known team trophy for women amateur golfers, awarded in the biennial Curtis Cup Match. It is co-organised by the United States Golf Association and The R&A and is contested by teams representing the United States and " ...
:*
2002
File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...
– Laura Myerscough
:*
2004
2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO).
Events January
* January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...
– Erica Blasberg
:All-American (Selected by WGCA)
:*1988 –
Martina Koch ''(2nd Team)''
:*1989 – Martina Koch ''(2nd Team)''
:*1990 –
Mette Hageman ''(1st Team)''
:*1990 – Martina Koch ''(1st Team)''
:*1990 –
Susan Slaughter ''(1st Team)''
:*1991 – Mette Hageman ''(1st Team)''
:*1991 –
Annika Sörenstam
Annika Charlotta Sörenstam (; born 9 October 1970) is a Swedish professional golfer. She is regarded as one of the best female golfers in history. Before stepping away from competitive golf at the end of the 2008 season, she had won 90 inter ...
''(1st Team)''
:*1991 –
Leta Lindley
Leta Lindley (born June 1, 1972) is an American professional golfer who captured her first LPGA Tour title after 15 years on tour at the 2008 LPGA Corning Classic.
Lindley, whose first golf job was painting stripes on range balls as an 11-year-o ...
''(1st Team)''
:*1992 – Annika Sörenstam ''(1st Team)''
:*1992 – Debbie Parks ''(1st Team)''
:*1992 – Leta Lindley ''(1st Team)''
:*1994 – Leta Lindley ''(1st Team)''
:*1996 –
Marisa Baena
Marisa Isabel Baena (born 1 June 1977) is a Colombian golfer who plays on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour.
Baena was born in Pereira, Colombia. She started playing golf at the age of six. She attended the University of Arizona in the United States and ...
''(1st Team)''
:*1996 – Heather Graff ''(2nd Team)''
:*1997 – Marisa Baena ''(1st Team)''
:*1998 – Marisa Baena ''(1st Team)''
:*1998 – Jenna Daniels ''(2nd Team)''
:*1998 – Krissie Register ''(2nd Team)''
:*1999 – Jenna Daniels ''(2nd Team)''
:*2000 – Cristina Baena ''(2nd Team)''
:*2000 – Jenna Daniels ''(1st Team)''
:*2001 –
Lorena Ochoa
Lorena Ochoa Reyes (; born 15 November 1981) is a Mexican former professional golfer who played on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour from 2003 to 2010. She was the top-ranked female golfer in the world for 158 consecutive and total weeks (both are LPGA ...
''(1st Team)''
:*2001 –
Natalie Gulbis
Natalie Anne Gulbis (born January 7, 1983) is an American professional golfer who plays on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour.
Golf career
Gulbis was born and raised in the Sacramento, California, area. She has Latvian ancestry. Gulbis started finding ...
''(1st Team)''
:*2002 – Lorena Ochoa ''(1st Team)''
:*2003 –
Erica Blasberg
Erica Paige Blasberg (July 14, 1984 – May 9, 2010) was an American professional golfer who played on the LPGA Tour. She attended the University of Arizona, and was the country's number 1 ranked college player as a freshman. She won the 2004 Lac ...
''(1st Team)''
:*2004 – Erica Blasberg ''(1st Team)''
:*2007 – Alison Walshe ''(1st Team)''
:*2008 – Alison Walshe ''(1st Team)''
:*2010 – Margarita Ramos ''(2nd Team)''
:*2011 – Isabelle Boineau ''(2nd Team)''
:*2014 – Lindsey Weaver ''(2nd Team)''
:*2015 – Lindsey Weaver ''(2nd Team)''
:*2017 –
Haley Moore
Haley Nicole Moore (born November 24, 1998) is an American professional golfer.
Early life and junior golf
Moore was born in Crystal Lake, Illinois and attended San Pasqual High School in Escondido, California where she was a member of the golf ...
''(2nd Team)''
:*2019 –
Bianca Pagdanganan
Bianca Isabel Pagdanganan (born 28 October 1997) is a Filipino professional golfer. As an amateur, she was a dual medalist in the 2018 Asian Games, winning a bronze in the women's individual event, and a gold medal in the team event with Yuka S ...
''(2nd Team)''
:*2019 – Yu-Sang Hou ''(2nd Team)''
:*2020 – Vivian Hou ''(1st Team)''
:*2020 – Yu-Sang Hou ''(2nd Team)''
:*2021 – Yu-Sang Hou ''(2nd Team)''
:WGCA Academic All-American
:*1992 –
Leta Lindley
Leta Lindley (born June 1, 1972) is an American professional golfer who captured her first LPGA Tour title after 15 years on tour at the 2008 LPGA Corning Classic.
Lindley, whose first golf job was painting stripes on range balls as an 11-year-o ...
:*1994 – Leta Lindley
:*1994 – Ulrika Johansson
:*1995 – Ulrika Johansson
:*1996 – Christina Tolerton
:*1997 – Christina Tolerton
:*1998 – Krissie Register
:*1998 – Jill Gomric
:*1999 – Krissie Register
:*1999 – Christina Monteiro
:*2000 – Christina Monteiro
:*2001 – Christina Monteiro
:*2002 – Cathie Williamson
:*2004 – Whitney Welch
:*2004 – Lani Elston
:*2005 – Whitney Welch
:*2005 – Lani Elston
:*2006 – Whitney Welch
:*2009 – Nikki Koller
:*2009 – Margarita Ramos
:*2010 – Nikki Koller
:*2013 – Kendall Prince
:*2014 – Kendall Prince
:*2014 – Jessica Vasilic
:*2014 – Andrea Vilarasau
:*2014 – Wanasa Zhou
:*2015 – Kendall Prince
:*2015 – Wanasa Zhou
:*2016 – Jessica Vasilic
:*2016 – Wanasa Zhou
:*2017 – Jessica Vasilic
:*2017 – Wanasa Zhou
:*2018 – Sandra Nordaas
:*2019 – Ya Chun Chang
:*2019 – Sandra Nordaas
:*2020 – Ya Chun Chang
:*2020 – Vivian Hou
:*2020 – Gile Bite Starkute
:*2020 – Therese Warner
:*2021 – Ya Chun Chang
:*2021 – Maya Benita
:*2021 – Gile Bite Starkute
:*2021 – Therese Warner
Team Scoring Records
Source:
Individual Scoring Record
References
{{Reflist
College golf teams in the United States
University of Arizona
Women's sports in Arizona