PHOTO COURTESY UTRGV ATHLETICS
The UTRGV Women’s Golf Team won the 2026 Southland Conference Championship from April 13 to 15 at the Kissing Tree Golf Club in San Marcos.
With the win, the Vaqueros have punched their ticket to the NCAA Regionals, which will take place from May 11 to 13. The team will find out in which regional it will play during the NCAA Selection Show Wednesday.
It is the second conference championship the program has won; the first was in 2009, when legacy institution the University of Texas–Pan American won the Great West Golf Championships in Houston.
Sophomore golfer Miriam Barcalova, who secured the championship with a clutch par putt, said it felt amazing to bring the title home.
“I know this has never been done before for our program, so it’s just an honor to be the first ones to kind of achieve it,” Barcalova said. “We have a really good team. Our coaches are great support to all of us. And I feel, like, we’re a very good group this year.”
Junior golfer Natalia Rodriguez said she is proud of the team and herself.
“I’m really, really happy about how I play, how I stick to my game,” Rodriguez said. “[I am] proud of myself, but also of every single one of my teammates.”
Associate head coach Puthita Khuanrudee said, being her first year with UTRGV, she is proud of the program.
“I have the streak going on,” Khuanrudee said. “Whichever school I went to, I always got a ring. So, it’s really nice to get here the first year right off the bat and also knowing that we were the underdogs going into conference, and we did it.”
She added the team is feeling motivated and competitive.
“We have a certain goal for each practice,” Khuanrudee said. “So, we just take it one step at a time and do our best. … This is the first year that [Houston Moore, UTRGV director of Golf] took over, and this is my first year working here, and we already won the conference.”
PHOTO COURTESY UTRGV ATHLETICS
