Women’s Golf Ready For 2026

Written by: Jeff Kallin

Orange: The Experience Magazine | V17 , Issue 2

Golf at Clemson has always been a natural fit, and it’s easy to forget that Women’s Golf is now in just its 13^th season, given the heights the program has found early on. From winning ACC Championships to advancing to the National Quarterfinals and sending players to the pros, the program’s foundation has now been well established.

Head Coach Kelley Hester is now in her 10^th season as the program’s head coach, and the 2025-26 roster is shaping up to be strong from top to bottom. The Tigers narrowly missed an NCAA Tournament bid in 2025, finishing 39^th nationally and posting a 58-69-3 head-to-head record.

During the summer, the team had the chance to travel internationally to play some of the world’s most renowned courses in Scotland (Carnoustie, Dumbarnie, Kingsbarns, Gleneagles and a match at St. Andrews Fairmont Torrance Course). From a team-building and competitive standpoint, this experience gave the team an early start, and it paid off.

To start the 2025-26 season, Clemson amassed a 50-14-1 mark and two wins in five tournaments in the fall. The team had a six-stroke victory over an 11-team field in the Tiger Classic, held at The Walker Course on campus, in August, and closed the fall with an 18-stroke victory at the French Broad Collegiate Invitational, its largest margin of victory in school history. In that performance in at the Cliff at Walnut Cove, all five Tigers finished among the top nine in a 52-player field. All that is to say, this Tiger team is primed to make a return to the NCAA Tournament for the tenth time in 13 seasons.

THE LINEUP

Kelley Hester’s squad will be mix of experienced players and new faces after losing four players to graduation with more than 200 rounds of experience. Clemson’s five returning players combined to appear in 70 tournaments and 193 rounds, led by senior Isabella Rawl and Sydney Roberts, who have each appeared in 25 tournaments for the Tigers.

Rawl, a lifelong Clemson fan, committed to the Tigers in ninth grade and found early success. Rawl, from Lexington, S.C., had a breakout freshman season, clinching the ACC Championship in Match Play, and a strong sophomore campaign, finishing second overall at the ACC Championships. She earned a starting spot and was a mainstay on NCAA Tournament teams in each of her first two seasons and had her score count toward the team totals more than 85 percent of the time. However, she missed much of the 2024-25 season due to an injury suffered in the fall. However, she’s fully recovered and had a strong fall, and is looked upon as a senior team leader. So, too, will senior Sydney Roberts, who like Rawl played extensively in her first three seasons. Roberts similarly has been consistently in the lineup over the past three seasons, helping the Tigers to a pair of NCAA appearances and a top-ten individual finish in Clemson’s 2023 ACC Championship.

Sophomores Aitana Tuesta and Juliette Demeaux saw frequent action in their freshman campaigns, with six combined rounds under par. Demeaux also picked up medalist honors in the Tiger Classic in the fall. Ivy Schulze also provides depth, appearing in seven tournaments in 2025. Newcomers for the season are Claire Green (Okatie, S.C.), a top-five player in South Carolina and multiple-time state champion at May River High School, and twice won the South Carolina Junior Players Championship. Keya Naik (Ashburn, Va.) was a top-50 player nationally and ranked second in Virginia before enrolling at Clemson. She participate in the 2025 US Amateur at Bandon Dunes and had 12 top-five finishes at the AJGA level.

Clemson also added Annika Kahoutek mid-year. Kahoutek also has extensive internation experience for the Czech Republic, and won five amateur titles, including the Swiss Golf International Championship in Sept. 2025.Sarah Uebelhart (Hünenberg See, Switzerland) was the top-ranked Swiss player and No. 11 in the U18 European Golf Rankings upon signing with the Tigers. Her extensive international experience should help her see the lineup often in 2026, as she saw action in the fall.

THE SCHEDULE

The fall schedule saw the Tigers win two team titles for the first time in program history, and finished in the top five in four of the five fall dates. They’ll open with three consecutive tournaments in Florida – the Paradise Invitational in Boca Raton, the Spartan Suncoast Invitational in Sarasota, and the Gators Invitational in Gainesville. After a trip to Briar’s Creek in John’s Island, Clemson will host the Clemson Invitational at the Reserve at Lake Keowee to close the regular season. The ACC Championships are in Wilmington, N.C. on April 16-19 at Porters Neck Country Club and NCAA’s begin May 11.

THE OUTLOOK

Clemson continues to assemble a strong mix of experience and youth, with a mix of local and international players. Head Coach Kelley Hester will have a variety of options in the lineup and the Tigers should be in the mix at both the conference and national levels.