Illini women’s golf finds themselves 14 shots behind fifth-place Arizona for the final cutdown to the 2026 NCAA Championships.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Staff Writer

May 11, 2026

In order for Illinois women’s golf to qualify for the NCAA Championships for the second time in program history, they’ll need a major momentum-shifting comeback over the next two days.

Illinois finished the first round of the 2026 NCAA Stanford Regional in a two-way tie for 10th place in the 12-team field where the top five teams will advance to the NCAA Championships.

In their second straight postseason competition in the state of California, Illinois finished Monday at 17-over led by senior Anna Ritter’s even-par 71.

Ritter, who posted a career-low 65 to jump to the top of the individual medalist leaderboard in the opening round of the 2026 Big Ten Championships two weeks ago, had a fantastic start on Monday afternoon. Ritter got to 3-under in her first eight holes and would end the day being one of 23 players in the 76-player field that finished her round at even-par or better.

However, Illinois as a five-player team recorded just two birdies on the back nine of Stanford Golf Course and Ritter’s back-nine 38 was the only recorded final-nine score for the Illini under 40.

Ritter will likely need Illinois to make a team comeback in the regional for this to not be her final collegiate tournament as only one individual for a non-qualifying team will advance and the two of the top four spots on the leaderboard are players selected to compete as individuals without a full team in a NCAA regional.

New Mexico State senior Emma Bunch, a three-time Conference USA Player of the Year selection from Denmark, powered her way through the 6,267-yard, par-71 test on Monday with eight birdies to take a three-shot lead in the individual medalist race with a 7-under 64.

Alexis Myers, an Illini freshman from Northbrook, Ill., had an even-par round going before she arrived at the 167-yard, par-3 17th hole but back-to-back double bogeys tumbled her 28 spots on the individual leaderboard.

The 2026 selection to a NCAA regional field marks the 12th overall regional appearance in Illini program history, and eighth in the last nine tournaments. Illinois finished ninth in the 2025 NCAA Columbus Regional, with senior Anna Ritter tallying a 1-under 71 on the final day of competition. The Illini have advanced to the NCAA Championships once in program history, in 2019, when the Orange and Blue recorded a fifth-place finish in the NCAA East Lansing Regional. A ninth-place finish this week would match their best finish in a NCAA regional since advancing to the NCAA Championships seven years ago.

Illinois finds themselves 14 shots behind the cut line to the top five advancing team spots in this regional and 26 shots behind Monday’s leader, the No. 1-ranked Stanford Cardinal. Stanford finished the first day at its home course at 9-under with all four of its qualifying scores coming in under par. Two other teams finished under par in the first day as Oregon State and Pepperdine slotted in second and third. Vanderbilt, which ended the Southeastern Conference Championships third in the stroke play format of the 16-team league title tournament before a quarterfinal exit via Florida in the match play portion, was the only non-West Coast school in the top five after day one at fourth at 2-over. Arizona, at 3-over-par, nudged out rival Arizona State by three strokes to sit above the fifth and transfer spot into the NCAA Championships after day one.

The Illini will tee off for round two on Tuesday starting with the back nine that they struggled with in this opening round. Erica Lee, who posted a 7-over 78 on Monday playing in an NCAA regional just 15 miles from her hometown of Arcadia, Calif., will kick off the round at 10:55 a.m. CT, with Zheng, Brielle Mapanao, Myers, and Ritter to follow in 11-minute increments.

2026 NCAA Stanford Regional Championship Team Leaderboard

Stanford - 275 (-9)

Oregon State - 279 (-5)

Pepperdine - 281 (-3)

Vanderbilt - 286 (+2)

Arizona - 287 (+3)

---------TOP FIVE AFTER THREE ROUNDS ADVANCE TO NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS-------

Arizona State - 290 (+6)

Missouri - 290 (+6)

California State at Fullerton - 293 (+9)

California Polytechnic State - 296 (+12)

ILLINOIS - 301 (+17)

South Dakota State - 301 (+17)

Navy - 310 (+26)