For the third time in her four year career as a Minnesota Golden Gopher, senior Bella McCauley advanced through the NCAA Regionals and qualified for the NCAA Women’s Golf Championships. McCauley finished the 54-hole tournament with a total score of -3 and finished overall in fourth place in the Ann Arbor Regional on Wednesday. She was the top individual not on an advancing team, and thus will advance to the 2026 NCAA Women’s Golf Championships held May 22-27 at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad,
Calif.
McCauley and fellow Gopher Maria Mesones got off to slow starts in the first round on Monday. McCauley shot a +3 74 and Mesones a +4 75 to be towards the middle of the pack after day one. But as we have seen many times over McCauley’s career, she turns it on when she needs to. In Tuesday’s second round Bella had the best round of the entire field shooting a -4 67 to jump back into a tie for 9th place after the first two rounds. Mesones also clawed back with a -2 69 in the second round.
McCauley knew she would need another good round on Wednesday to qualify. She got off to a good start birding the third hole to shoot -1 on the front nine and sit one shot ahead of the qualifying line. She then would go on a tear on the back nine with three consecutive birdies on thirteen, fourteen and fifteen to get to -4 on the day and in a tie for the overall lead of the tournament. She would drop a pair of strokes with a double boogie on the 17th to fall back to -2 for the day and -3 for the tournament, but it would be enough as she would qualify by four shots over her next closest non-team qualifier.
Mesones would slip back with a +4 75 on Wednesday to finish the tournament in 23rd place with a score of + 6. She will return to the U for her senior season next year.
But Wednesday would be all about Bella. “Bella played practically flawless golf the last two days,” said head coach Matt Higgins. “This is the third championship in four years for her. I know she is really excited to get back to La Costa and represent the Gophers!” She will be looking to best her previous best performance at the NCAA Championships in her freshman season where she finished in 71st place. Congrats to Bella!
