Ole Miss heads to Carlsbad this week looking like a team that belongs in every national title conversation.
The Rebels have been solid all season, they closed the Louisville Regional with one of their best rounds of the year, and nothing about their résumé suggests they’ll be sneaking up on anyone at Omni La Costa, the site of the 2026 NCAA Women’s Golf Championship. Tournament play begins Friday morning.
This is the seventh NCAA Championship appearance in program history, all of them under Kory Henkes, and the fourth straight. That kind of consistency usually means a team knows how to handle this stage.
The 2021 national title didn’t happen by accident, and this group has the same traits: depth, experience, and a top end that can carry them through the grind of stroke play and into match play.
The final round at the regional was the latest reminder. Ole Miss posted a 286, the best score of the day, and climbed into a tie for fourth. That wasn’t a fluke performance, either. The Rebels have six top‑five finishes this season, two team titles, and a lineup that has produced four different players with at least one top‑10 finish.
Sophomores Kajsalotta Svarvar and Mary Miller have been the anchors. Svarvar leads the team in scoring average and rounds in the 60s. Miller has the most under‑par rounds and five top‑10s. When your two most reliable players are also your two youngest, that usually means your ceiling is high.
The field in Carlsbad is loaded, as it always is, but Ole Miss isn’t showing up as a feel‑good story or a dark horse. They’re showing up as a team that has played like a contender all spring and just put together one of their sharpest rounds when it mattered most.
If the Rebels make another deep run, it won’t surprise anyone. And if they leave California with another trophy, that won’t be much of a shock either.
2026 NCAA Women’s Golf Championship Tournament Schedule
- Friday, May 22 – 18 Holes, stroke play
- Saturday, May 23 – 18 Holes, stroke play
- Sunday, May 24 – 18 Holes, stroke play
- Monday, May 25 – Top 15 teams advance to 18 holes, stroke play
- Tuesday, May 26 – Match play
- Wednesday, May 27 – Match play
Tournament Participants
- Arizona State
- Arkansas
- Auburn
- Baylor
- Duke
- Eastern Michigan
- Florida
- Florida State
- Houston
- Iowa State
- Kentucky
- LSU
- Michigan State
- Missouri
- North Carolina
- Northwestern
- Ohio State
- Oklahoma State
- Ole Miss
- Oregon State
- Pepperdine
- SMU
- Southern California
- Stanford
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Texas A&M
- Texas Tech
- Virginia
- Wake Forest
Ole Miss Lineup
Kajsalotta Svarvar (So.)
- Team best 71.34 scoring average.
- Leads team in rounds even/below par (19) and rounds in the 60s (10).
- New career low 54-hole score (203, -10) at the Cougar Classic.
Mary Miller (So.)
- Second Team All-SEC selection.
- 71.66 season scoring average.
- Leads team with 15 rounds under-par.
Sophie Linder (Jr.)
- Nine rounds under-par this season.
- 72.68 season scoring average.
- Four rounds in the 60s this season.
Matilda Björkman (Fr.)
- Has shot 11 rounds even/below par.
- 83 birdies on the year, good for third best on the roster.
- 73.36 season scoring average.
Filippa Sundquist (So.)
- Six rounds under-par this season.
- Four top 20 finishes.
- 73.30 season scoring average.
