Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowgirl Golf set for 27th NCAA Championship appearance
May 21, 2026 | Cowgirl Golf
CARLSBAD, Calif. – The Oklahoma State women's golf team tees off in California Friday morning in pursuit of the first national championship in program history.
The Omni La Costa Resort & Spa hosts the NCAA Championship for the second year in a row. Founded in 1965, the par-72, 6,330-yard course is four years removed from a $20 million renovation and was ranked among Golf Digest's 100 Greatest from 1969-90.
Oklahoma State is coming off a podium finish at the Chapel Hill Regional, taking third place to punch its ticket to the national championship for the sixth year in a row. Marta Silchenko went 6-under in North Carolina to earn her second individual tournament title of the 2025-26 season as well as her sixth consecutive top-10 finish. Silchenko's victory made her the first Cowgirl to win an NCAA Regional since Maddison Hinson-Tolchard took home medalist honors at the Stillwater Regional in 2022.
Format:
The NCAA Championship begins with 54 holes of stroke play, with one 18-hole round played each day, Friday-Sunday. Upon the completion of the tournament's first three rounds, the top 15 teams advance to a fourth round of stroke play on Monday.
The top eight teams after 72 holes then advance to match play on Tuesday and Wednesday to determine the national champion.
Oklahoma State is the tournament's No. 16 seed and will be paired with Florida State (17) and in-conference foe Arizona State (18).
Coverage:
Follow live scoring from the NCAA Championship at Scoreboard by Clipp'd.
All six days of the tournament will be broadcast on Golf Channel and BabygrandeGolf.com.
Read daily recaps on okstate.com or follow us on social media:
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NCAA Championship Seedings (Official NCAA Ranking):
1. Stanford (1)
2. USC (2)
3. Florida (3)
4. Texas A&M (4)
5. Texas (5)
6. Auburn (6)
7. Arkansas (7)
8. Wake Forest (8)
9. Duke (10)
10. Pepperdine (11)
11. UNC (12)
12. SMU (16)
13. Iowa State (17)
14. Tennessee (18)
15. Ole Miss (20)
16. Oklahoma State (21)
17. Florida State (22)
18. Arizona State (23)
19. Ohio State (25)
20. Baylor (26)
21. Eastern Michigan (27)
22. Houston (29)
23. Northwestern (31)
24. Missouri (32)
25. Kentucky (33)
26. LSU (34)
27. Virginia (35)
28. Michigan State (38)
29. Oregon State (46)
30. Texas Tech (49)
The Cowgirl Lineup
+ Round One Tee Times (CDT)
1. Marta Silchenko – 9:14 a.m.
2. Yu-Chu Chen – 9:03 a.m.
3. Tarapath Panya – 8:52 a.m.
4. Ellie Bushnell – 8:41 a.m.
5. Summer Lee – 8:30 a.m.
Oklahoma State at the NCAA Championship
This week marks the Cowgirls' sixth consecutive trip to the NCAA Championship and their 27th overall. The six-year streak is the second longest in program history, trailing only OSU's 10-year run from 2001-10.
Last season, Oklahoma State took 15th at the tournament and made the 54-hole cut for the first time since 2023. T
Marta Silchenko leads the Cowgirls again after a 40th-place finish in 2025. Silchenko's week in Carlsbad was highlighted by a 1-under 71 in the opening round.
Fellow junior Ellie Bushnell followed closely, tying for 54th. Bushnell carded a 71 (-1) in the first round as well.
Then-freshman Summer Lee added a steady 73-75-75-77—300 (+12). Fellow first-year Tarapath Panya gained three rounds of championship experience.
Back on the Biggest Stage
Of the five Cowgirls in head coach Annie Young's lineup this week, four also played for Oklahoma State in last year's national championship.
Juniors Marta Silchenko and Ellie Bushnell have played on the national stage in each of their three collegiate seasons (2023-26).
The sophomore duo of Summer Lee and Tarapath Panya bring seven combined rounds of national championship experience.
Yu-Chu Chen, a freshman, is the lone Cowgirl without a round at the tournament. Still, Chen proved successful in her postseason debut last week at the Chapel Hill Regional, going 2-under to tie for fifth place.
Chasing History
Juniors Marta Silchenko and Ellie Bushnell each approaches significant career milestones entering the NCAA Championship.
Bushnell is just three birdies away from becoming the 10th Cowgirl ever to record 300 for her career. Silchenko is 22 away from the mark, with 278 to date.
Silchenko's 71.00 stroke average this season is the third-lowest single-season mark in OSU history. Only Maja Stark (70.48 in 2020-21) and Isabella Fierro (70.78 in 2021-22) are lower.
With 114 birdies and counting in 2025-26, Bushnell is just one away from entering the top-10 for birdies in a single season by a Cowgirl.
Silchenko's 17 rounds at par-or-better this year are tied for 10th-most in the Cowgirl record books. She trails leaders Maja Stark, Maddison Hinson-Tolchard and Caroline Hedwall by five.
Freshman on Fire
True freshman Yu-Chu Chen enters her first NCAA Championship riding the best stretch of golf of her young collegiate career.
Chen, a native of Kaohsiung, Taiwan, has earned top-5 finishes in two of her last three events, tying for fifth in both. Chen has also played at par-or-better in seven of her last nine rounds, more than doubling the total from her 18 prior rounds.
Now with 10 rounds at par-or-better this season, Chen is the first Cowgirl freshman to reach the double-digit mark since both Ellie Bushnell and Marta Silchenko did it in 2022-23.
25 conference titles. 31 NCAA Championship appearances. 44 All-Americans. For the latest news and updates on Oklahoma State Women's Golf, visit okstate.com or follow @CowgirlGolf on Instagram/Facebook and @OSUCowgirlGolf on X.
