The Eagles didn’t just win — they rewrote the record book. At Desert Willow Golf Resort in Palm Desert, California, top-seeded Emory cruised to the 2026 NCAA Division III women’s golf championship, finishing at two-over par to beat rival Carnegie Mellon by a comfortable seven strokes (1,154 to 1,161). It’s Emory’s second straight national title and third in five years.
And they did it in the most emphatic way possible: with the best team performance the championship has ever seen.
History on the scorecard
Emory’s four-round total of 1,154 is the lowest team score in the history of the NCAA Division III women’s golf championship — breaking the program’s own record of 1,168, set just last year. Their Friday round of 284 also went into the books as the lowest single-round score in championship history. When you break your own records on the way to a repeat, you’re not just winning. You’re setting the standard.
Rare company
With this title, Emory becomes just the third program in DIII women’s golf history to win three or more national championships, joining the legendary Methodist and Rhodes dynasties. Three crowns in five years — 2022, 2025 and now 2026 — is the mark of a true power.
Led by a dynamic trio
Sophomore Zimo Li capped a season for the ages, earning WGCA Division III National Player of the Year honors after sitting No. 1 in the country for most of the spring and finishing top-10 in all ten of her starts. She and freshman Amanda Zheng — the UAA Rookie of the Year, ranked No. 2 nationally — each fired a four-round 288 to tie for seventh individually at Desert Willow. Rounding out the trio was junior Carys Code, the reigning individual national champion, who carded a ninth-place finish. All three Eagles earned WGCA All-America First Team honors — the heartbeat of a record-setting team.
Beating their biggest rival
There was an extra layer to this one: Carnegie Mellon, Emory’s runner-up victim, is a fellow University Athletic Association member. The Tartans played beautifully — a program-record 1,161 of their own — but ran into an Emory squad operating on a different level. For the second straight year, the Eagles sent the Tartans home as runners-up.
Still soaring
A repeat. A three-peat of the decade. Two championship scoring records shattered. A Player of the Year leading the charge. Emory came to the desert as the team to beat and left as something more — the best team this championship has ever produced.
Go Eagles. 🦅 Fire up the champs and fuel their NIL on RallyFuel.
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