Bunch to tee off at 3:02 p.m. (MDT)

Michael Navarrette, New Mexico State Athletics

CARLSBAD, Calif. - New Mexico State women's golfer Emma Bunch is slated to begin her quest for a national championship on Friday afternoon as she opens play at the 2026 NCAA Division I Women's Golf Championship at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa's North Course. Bunch is scheduled to tee off at 3:02 p.m. (MDT) for her opening round as she competes alongside 156 individuals.

Bunch will play the first round with a pair of fellow individuals as Princeton's Thanana Kotchasanmanee and Minnesota's Isabella McCauley are set to tee off with Bunch. Among the individuals in the field, Bunch ranks second in the SCOREBOARD rankings at No. 61, sitting only behind Kotchasanmanee who ranks 59^th.

The format

This week in Carlsbad, Bunch will be one of six individuals along with thirty teams that qualified for the national championship. The competitors will play three days of stroke play beginning Friday, after which the top 15 teams and nine individuals not on an advancing team will qualify to continue play. This will be followed by a final day of 18 holes of stroke play on Monday to determine the 72-hole individual champion.

Follow along

Fans interested in following along with Emma Bunch's performance can track live scoring via SCOREBOARD Powered by Clippd at this link. Supporters can also stream the championship live on watch.babygrandegolf.com for a small fee. Additionally, the final round of stroke play will air live on Golf Channel from 3:30-7:30 p.m. MDT on Monday, May 25.

The field

#2 USC
#1 Stanford
#3 Florida
#4 Texas A&M
#5 Texas
#6 Auburn
#7 Arkansas
#8 Wake Forest
#10 Duke
#11 Pepperdine
#12 North Carolina
#16 SMU
#17 Iowa State
#18 Tennessee
#20 Ole Miss
#21 Oklahoma State
#23 Arizona State
#25 Ohio State
#26 Baylor
#27 Eastern Michigan
#22 Florida State
#29 Houston
#31 Northwestern
#32 Missouri
#33 Kentucky
#34 LSU
#35 Virginia
#38 Michigan State
#46 Oregon State
#49 Texas Tech

Individuals

#59 Thanana Kotchasanmanee, Princeton
#61 Emma Bunch, NM State
#99 Isabella McCauley, Minnesota
#149 Johanna Sjursen, ULM
#153 Sheridan Clancy, Indiana
#171 Kirstin Angosta, TCU

For complete coverage of NM State Women's Golf, follow the team on X (@NMStateWGolf), Instagram (@NMStateWGolf) and Facebook (NM State Women's Golf). You can also follow along with Aggie Women's Golf via NMStateSports.com.

Michael Navarrette is Assistant Athletic Director of Media Relations for New Mexico State University. He can be reached at micnav@nmsu.edu.