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 in 1996, 2000, and 2018. The Wildcat Women have also had four individual national champions with Susan Slaughter in (1990), Annika Sörenstam in (1991), Marisa Baena in (1996) and Jenna Daniels in (2000).
On August 4, 2023, Arizona announced it would join the Big 12 Conference along with Arizona State, Colorado, and Utah beginning in the 2024–25 academic year.
Members of the Wildcat women's program have gone on to success on the LPGA Tour, led by 8-time LPGA Player of the Year Annika Sörenstam and 4-time LPGA Player of the Year Lorena Ochoa. 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 Tour tournaments including ten majors 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. The winner of a record eight Player of the Year 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 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 during the 2011 Solheim Cup. Sörenstam also was captain of the 2017 European Solheim Cup team. In 2003, Sörenstam played in the Bank of America Colonial tournament to become the first woman to play in a PGA Tour event since 1945.
Lorena Ochoa was the top-ranked female golfer in the world for 158 consecutive and total weeks (both are LPGA Tour records), from April 23, 2007, to her retirement on May 2, 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 in 2017.
Yearly record Source Season Coach Conference NCAA Pac-10/12Big 121981JoAnne Lusk4th14th1982JoAnne Lusk3rd13th1983JoAnne Lusk3rd11th1984Kim Haddow4th1985Kim Haddow4th1986Kim Haddow5th1987Kim Haddow4st12th1988Kim Haddow5th8th1989Kim Haddow3rd4th1990Kim Haddow2nd7th1991Kim Haddow2nd3rd1992Kim Haddow1st2nd1993Kim Haddow8th14th1994Kim Haddow6th1995Kim Haddow/Rick LaRose4th12th1996Rick LaRoseT-3rd1st1997Rick LaRose1st3rd1998Rick LaRose1st3rd1999Todd McCorkle2nd4th2000Todd McCorkle1st1st2001Greg Allen1st8th2002Greg Allen1st7th2003Greg Allen2nd7th2004Greg Allen3rd T-15th2005Greg Allen4th2006Greg Allen5th17th2007Greg Allen4thT-14th2008Shelly Haywood4th23rd2009Shelly Haywood4th16th2010Shelly Haywood/Laura Ianello1st5th2011Laura Ianello2nd15th2012Laura Ianello3rd2013Laura IanelloT-4th8th2014Laura IanelloT-2ndT-7th2015Laura Ianello1stT-5th2016Laura Ianello4thT-9th2017Laura Ianello4th2018Laura IanelloT-3rd1st2019Laura Ianello2nd6th2020Laura IanelloSeason canceled due to theCoronavirus Pandemic2021Laura Ianello4thT-7st2022Laura IanelloT-5th2023 Laura Ianello 4th T-9th2024 Laura Ianello 6th 2025 Giovana Maymon 1st TotalPac-12/Big 12:93
Team tournament wins (84) 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 NCAA Championships (3) 2019 Pac-12 Preview 2019 UNLV Rebel Beach Invitational 2019 Hawkeye El Tigre Invitational 2020 Pac-12 Preview 2020 Wildcat Invitational 2022 NCAA Raleigh Regional 2023 Gators Invitational 2024 Folds of Honor Collegiate 2024 St. Andrews Links Collegiate 2025 Big 12 Championships (1)
Individual champions Source:
NCAA Arizona has had four individuals claim the NCAA Individual Championship on four occasions. + NCAA Individual Champion1990 Susan Slaughter1991 Annika Sörenstam1996 Marisa Baena2000 Jenna Daniels
Regional
+ NCAA West Regional Championship1996 Marisa Baena1999 Jenna Daniels2001 Natalie Gulbis2008 Alison Walshe
+ NCAA Central Regional2004 Erica Blasberg
Conference Arizona has had five golfers win a conference title on five occasions. + Pac-10/121991 Annika Sörenstam1994 Leta Lindley1996 Marisa Baena1998 Jenna Daniels2001 Lorena Ochoa
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)
U.S. Women's Amateur champions 1996 – Heather Graff (US Public Links) 1997 – Marisa Baena (Runner Up) 2000 – Laura Myercough (Runner Up)
National College Player of the Year 1991 – Annika Sörenstam (NGCA, Golfweek) 1996 – Marisa Baena (Honda Award, NGCA) 1997 – Marisa Baena (Honda Award, NGCA) 2000 – Jenna Daniels (Honda Award, NGCA) 2001 – Lorena Ochoa (NGCA) 2002 – Lorena Ochoa (NGCA) 2003 – Erica Blasberg (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 2002 – Laura Myerscough 2004 – 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 (1st team) 1991 – Leta Lindley (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 (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 (1st team) 2001 – Natalie Gulbis (1st team) 2002 – Lorena Ochoa (1st team) 2003 – Erica Blasberg (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 (2nd team) 2019 – Bianca Pagdanganan (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 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 2022 – Maya Benita 2022 – Ya Chun Chang 2022 – Carolina Melgrati 2022 – Gile Bite Starkute 2022 – Caitlin Whitehead 2023 – Carolina Melgrati 2023 – Julia Misemer 2023 – Gile Bite Starkute
Individual scoring record Source:
+Low 18-hole total in relation to par Player Date Score Haley Moore Oct 26, 2017 64 (−8) Therese Warner Mar 8, 2021 65 (−7) Gigi Stoll 65 (−7) Wanasa Zhou Mar 11, 2017 65 (−7) Haley Moore Sep 13, 2016 65 (−7) +Low 18-hole aggregate total Player Date Score Haley Moore Oct 26, 2017 64 (−8) Therese Warner Mar 8, 2021 65 (−7) Gigi Stoll 65 (−7) Wanasa Zhou Mar 11, 2017 65 (−7) Haley Moore Sep 13, 2016 65 (−7) +Low 54-hole total in relation to par Player Season Score Wanasa Zhou 2016–17 203 (−13) Manon Gidali 2011–12 204 (−12) Haley Moore 2016–17 206 (−10) Lorena Ochoa 2001–02 206 (−10) Krystal Quihuis 2016–17 206 (−10) +Low 54-hole aggregate total Player Season Score Wanasa Zhou 2016–17 203 (−13) Manon Gidali 2011–12 204 (−12) Haley Moore 2016–17 206 (−10) Lorena Ochoa 2001–02 206 (−10) Krystal Quihuis 2016–17 206 (−10) +Career scoring average (min. 2 seasons played) Player Average Years Rounds Lorena Ochoa 70.85 2000–02 60 Vivian Hou 71.95 2019–21 41 Erica Blasberg 72.32 2002–04 61 Haley Moore 72.45 2015–19 118 Yu-Sang Hou 72.48 2017–21 96 +Single-season scoring average (Min. 18 rounds played) Player Years Rounds Lorena Ochoa 70.13 2001–02 30 Vivian Hou 70.68 2019–20 19 Vivian Hou 71.40 2016–17 30 Lorena Ochoa 71.56 2000–01 30 Jenna Daniels 71.70 1999–00 34
References