Kelsey Kim Will Compete in NCAA Division I Women’s Golf Championship

Santa Clara women’s golfer Kelsey Kim ’27 during the West Coast Conference Women’s Golf Championship at Green Valley Country Club last week. (Courtesy of Santa Clara Athletics)

Santa Clara women’s golfer Kelsey Kim ’27 has been selected as an individual qualifier for the Stanford Regional of the 2026 NCAA Division I Women’s Golf Championship.

Kim becomes just the third player in program history to qualify for an NCAA Regional, joining Miki Ueoka ’11 in 2009 and Kristin Le ’18 in 2017.

“I was really surprised,” Kim said when asked about what this milestone means to her. “It’s a great opportunity for me to represent Santa Clara and also become a motivation for my other teammates. Hopefully, we can make it to regionals next year, and on and on.”

She is coming off one of the most impressive seasons in program history, posting a school-record scoring average of 71.73 strokes per round across 10 events. Kim recorded eight top-10 finishes and placed in the top 20 in nine tournaments. Both records rank second in program history. She also set a school record with 15 rounds under par, six more than the next closest total. 

“Super proud of Kelsey. Her play this year has been phenomenal. Definitely well-deserved. There’s no expectation. This is a great achievement. It’s just another tournament. We’re going to do what we normally do, and we’re going to go have fun,” said Santa Clara women’s golf head coach Krystal Kelly. 

The Broncos, led by Kim, also delivered a record-setting team performance at last week’s WCC Championship at Green Valley Country Club. 

Santa Clara finished third out of eight teams with a final score of 22-over 886, setting a new program record for lowest team total at the event. The Broncos’ third-place finish marks their third consecutive year in third and their fourth time in the last five seasons. It is the program’s 14th third-place finish at the WCC Championship. 

“Our teammates have the best sportsmanship, and I really appreciate them for that, because they know how to support each other and make each other laugh out there on the course. Golf is not a team sport, so I really appreciate them for being out there having fun even when there’s hard times,” said Kim. 

Alexa Pineda ’28 made program history with a fourth-place finish at even par, the lowest individual score by a Bronco at the WCC Championship and the program’s best individual finish since 2019. This fueled Pineda’s path to receiving All-WCC Honorable Mention.

Audrey Brust ’26 added another milestone, playing in her 126th career round as a Bronco to set the program’s all-time record. 

Individually, Kim opened the tournament with a 2-under round, tied for the second-lowest round in program history at the event. She finished tied for seventh overall and matched Le’s 2016-17 season for the second-most top-10 finishes in program history. Kim was named to the All-WCC women’s golf team. 

When asked about her goals for the rest of your college career, “Win an event. I haven’t won anything so far. I would really want to win at least one event before I graduate, so that would be great,” said Kim. 

The Stanford Regional, one of six regional tournaments, will be played in a 54-hole format from May 11-13. Each regional hosts 12 teams and six individual players. The top five teams and top individual will qualify for the 2026 National Championship, held May 22-27 in Carlsbad, Calif