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Dallas Baptist women’s golf repeats as NCAA Division II champion
Dallas Baptist University women’s golf repeated as NCAA Division II national champion with a 5-0 win over Anderson, capping another historic run.
Dallas Baptist University delivered one of the most convincing finishes of the 2026 NCAA spring championship season, repeating as the NCAA Division II women’s golf national champion on May 16 at PGA National Resort in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. In the title match, Dallas Baptist University swept Anderson University 5-0, a result that sealed back-to-back national titles and added another major chapter to the Patriots’ run of excellence.
For the Dallas Baptist women’s golf program, this was not just another trophy. It was the program’s fourth national championship in the last six seasons, and it made the Patriots the first Division II women’s golf team to win consecutive NCAA titles since Lynn did it in 2013 and 2014. By the end of championship week, Dallas Baptist had done more than defend a crown. It had reinforced its status as one of the defining programs of the current Division II match-play era under head coach Kenny Trapp.
The official championship field and format were laid out by the NCAA Division II Women’s Golf Committee, with the event running from May 12 through May 16 in Palm Beach Gardens. Dallas Baptist entered as the No. 2-ranked team in the country and made its 10th straight trip to the NCAA national championship, then backed up that ranking with a complete performance from stroke play through the final match.
The repeat title did not happen because of one hot round or one player carrying the lineup for a few days. It happened because Dallas Baptist brought unusual depth into the week, and every part of the lineup mattered. The Patriots’ starting five of Ella Cheek, Gracie Grant, Sidney Robertson, Chloe Sirkin and Madison Ude gave the roster five all-conference players. Cheek also arrived at nationals as the No. 2-ranked player in Division II, giving Dallas Baptist both star power at the top and scoring security across the full five-player group.
That balance has become a hallmark of Dallas Baptist University. The Patriots secured the second seed after stroke play, which was another sign of the consistency that has defined the program over the last several years. Since the Division II women’s golf championship format changed to include match play in 2019, Dallas Baptist has advanced to match play every year. That kind of track record says a lot about talent, but it also says a lot about preparation, lineup stability and a team culture that travels well to the postseason.
For recruits and families following college golf, that matters. Championship golf is rarely just about who has the lowest scoring average in September or October. The teams that keep showing up deep into May are usually the teams that combine roster depth, mental steadiness and players who can adapt to different forms of pressure. Dallas Baptist showed all of that in Florida.
In the quarterfinals, Dallas Baptist faced No. 9 Tampa and had to work through a tight front nine before taking control late. The momentum swing came on the par-4 11th hole, where Sirkin flipped her match from one down to one up with a birdie. That moment helped spark a broader surge across the lineup.
Grant, Ude and Cheek also won the 11th hole in their matches, and the team quickly created separation. Grant defeated Maria Mora. Ude closed out Justine Bayle by five strokes and posted a team-best round of 70. Cheek finished one-under on the way in and beat Kelly Shanahan by nine. Sidney Robertson dropped her individual match, but the overall team performance on the closing stretch was more than enough to send Dallas Baptist forward.
That quarterfinal showed an important piece of the Patriots’ identity. They did not panic when the match was still tight. Instead, they pressed at the right time and let multiple players create momentum at once. In match play, that can break an opponent quickly, and that is exactly what happened against Tampa.
The semifinal was a very different test. Against No. 7 Cal State San Marcos, Dallas Baptist had to survive a match that came all the way down to the final hole. Robertson and Sirkin lost their matches, while Cheek and Grant answered with wins of their own. That left Madison Ude with the team result in her hands.
Ude carried a one-stroke lead to the 18th hole. After Abby Sickles made par, Ude answered by draining her own par putt, clinching the match and sending the Patriots back to the national championship final. It was one of the defining pressure moments of the week, and it set up what became a remarkably one-sided title match the next day.
Dallas Baptist’s semifinal win was also a reminder that title teams usually need at least one moment where they are pushed to the edge. The Patriots were not able to coast all week. They had to execute under real pressure, and they did.
The championship match against Anderson University was expected to be competitive, especially with Anderson entering as the No. 3 seed. Instead, Dallas Baptist controlled the day almost from the opening tee shots. Four of the five Patriots held leads at the turn, and the biggest edge belonged to Cheek, who was already nine strokes ahead at that point.
Ude was the only Dallas Baptist player not in front at the halfway mark, but even she trailed by only one stroke against Kennedy Gooding. From there, the Patriots widened the gap across the board.
Robertson stretched a one-shot advantage over Aly Francis into a lead of as many as five and delivered the first point for Dallas Baptist. Grant, the 2025 Lone Star Conference Player of the Year, was already three up through nine holes and went on to defeat Olivia Roberts by 13 strokes in one of the most lopsided individual wins of the final.
Sirkin then produced one of the steadiest stretches of the day. She carded seven consecutive pars on the back side to beat Olivia Pellerin and deliver the third point, which officially secured the team title. Even after the championship was clinched, the final two matches only emphasized how complete the Patriots’ performance had been.
Ude flipped her match late by making par on both the 17th and 18th holes. That turned a one-stroke deficit through 16 holes into a three-stroke victory over Gooding. Then Cheek provided the final image of the week, birdieing the last hole of the season to close out Paige Paolucci and complete the 5-0 sweep.
The full result, as detailed by Dallas Baptist athletics, was as emphatic as any final in recent Division II women’s golf memory.
Back-to-back national championships are rare in any NCAA sport. In Division II women’s golf, they are especially difficult because of the format, the depth of quality teams and the pressure of having to survive both stroke play and match play in the same week. Dallas Baptist becoming the first Division II women’s golf team to repeat since Lynn in 2013 and 2014 puts this run in a very select category.
The larger number may be even more impressive. Four national titles in six seasons is the kind of sustained standard that changes how a program is viewed nationally. It is no longer a story of one championship cycle or one unusually strong class. It is a story of a program that has built repeatable success.
That matters in recruiting. Prospects do not just look for a team that had one great spring. They look for coaching staffs with a track record, teammates who push standards upward and a postseason environment where winning is expected. The Dallas Baptist women’s golf team now offers one of the clearest examples of that in Division II.
The raw results are easy to see, but the structure behind them deserves attention too. Under head coach Kenny Trapp, Dallas Baptist has developed a national identity around depth, postseason poise and players who can handle the emotional swings of match play.
It is one thing to qualify for nationals regularly. It is another to keep reaching match play, keep contending and keep winning titles through different rosters and different championship circumstances. Dallas Baptist has done that. The Patriots were tested in stroke play, pushed in the semifinal, then dominant in the final. That kind of week reflects a program that understands how to build toward May.
For athletes exploring college golf options, that is the difference between a strong team and a true championship environment. Families can browse broad school options through tools like the Pathley College Directory, but stories like this show why it is important to look deeper than surface results. Coaching continuity, lineup opportunity, roster depth and postseason history all matter when evaluating fit.
Every championship team has a face, and for Dallas Baptist this week, Cheek’s closing birdie became the signature image. But the title was built by the whole lineup.
That list captures why Dallas Baptist looked so complete. There was no obvious weak spot in the lineup. Different players took center stage at different points, and that is often what separates title winners from very good teams that fall one round short.
Dallas Baptist’s championship run is also a useful recruiting case study. Division II golf can offer a high-level competitive environment, national championship visibility and strong team culture, especially at programs that consistently reach the final stages of the season. For golfers and families, the big questions are not just whether a school wins, but how a player fits into the roster and development path.
That is why athletes often need more than rankings or a quick list of schools. They need context. They need to know whether a program has room in the lineup, whether the coaching style fits, whether the school works academically and whether the level is realistic. Using tools like Pathley Chat or a deeper roster look through Analyze Team Roster can help turn a headline into actual recruiting insight.
Dallas Baptist’s latest title will likely make the program even more visible to prospects. That means recruits interested in programs like this should be prepared with clear communication, a strong athletic resume and realistic school targeting.
If you are researching schools in the Dallas area beyond Dallas Baptist University, two other local options in the provided college list are Paul Quinn College and University of North Texas at Dallas. They are different institutions with different athletic and academic profiles, but they can still be worth exploring if location is part of your college search. If you are still comparing schools by geography, academics or overall fit, broader discovery tools like the Pathley Sport Directory can help you branch out beyond one headline program.
By the time the championship ended in Palm Beach Gardens, Dallas Baptist had done more than repeat. The Patriots had reinforced a standard. They entered as a contender, survived a demanding bracket and finished with a 5-0 sweep over Anderson in the national title match. That kind of ending leaves very little doubt about the strength of the program.
The week also captured everything that has made Dallas Baptist so difficult to beat in recent years, top-end talent, lineup depth, postseason composure and a coaching staff that has built a repeatable championship formula. In Division II women’s golf, the Patriots are not just part of the conversation. Right now, they are setting the standard.
Sources: Dallas Baptist Athletics, Dallas Baptist Athletics semifinal coverage, Dallas Baptist Athletics stroke play coverage, Dallas Baptist University news, NCAA.com.
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