WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue Women’s Golf begins the 2025-26 season looking to win their home fall tournament for the third straight season, welcoming 13 teams to West Lafayette for the Boilermaker Classic (Sept. 1-2). The 54-hole stroke play tournament will be contested on the Kampen-Cosler Course at the Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex.
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Monday, Sept. 1: Rounds 1 and 2 (9 a.m. ET Shotgun Start)
Tuesday, Sept. 2: Round 3 (9 a.m. ET Shotgun Start)
THE LINEUP (+2 INDIVIDUALS)
Luana Valero – Fr.
- Rose to No. 166 in the world in the World Amateur Golf Ranking and entered Purdue ranked No. 187
- 17 ranked prospect in the world, including No. 3 among players signed by Big Ten programs, according to Golf Channel's Brentley Romine
- Won nine tournaments and racked up 32 Top 10 finishes over three years entering her Purdue career
- Defended her title at the 2025 Camilo Villegas Cup
Samantha Brown – So.
- As a freshman, cracked the lineup in all 14 tournaments
- Held a 75.76 stroke average, leading the team’s freshmen, a season ago
- Led Purdue in eagles (4), including a pair of hole-in-ones, while ranking second on the team in pars (428)
- Making her conference tournament debut, carded a career-low 69 (-3) in the second round of the B1G Championships
- Led Purdue at the 2025 Boilermaker Spring Classic by tying for 16th (75-72-75—222) on the individual leaderboard and matching her best finish as a Boilermaker; made a hole-in-one in the second round, acing the par-3 17th at Ackerman-Allen
- Helped the Boilermakers win the Coach Mo Classic by tying for 16th (75-73-76—224); made a hole-in-one in the second round
- Tied for 30th at the prestigious ANNIKA Intercollegiate with a career-low 221 (78-71-72) that featured her first under-par round as a Boilermaker
- In her collegiate debut, tied for 21st (75-75-76—226) to help Purdue win the Boilermaker Classic
- 2025 WGCA All-American Scholar
Lauren Timpf – So.
- Played in 12 tournaments as a freshman, seven in the lineup and five as an individual
- Cracked the lineup in all three postseason tournaments (Big Ten Championships, NCAA Lubbock Regional, NCAA Championships)
- Produced a 75.94 stroke average
- Recorded the team-low round four times throughout the season
- Played her best golf of the season at the NCAA Lubbock Regional; her 14th-place finish, 54-hole total (73-76-70—219) and final round 70 (-2) were all career bests, and she ranked fourth in the field in par-5 scoring (-5) throughout the week
- Led Purdue at the Spartan Sun Coast Invitational by tying for 30th (75-73-73—221)
- 2025 WGCA All-American Scholar
Michaela Headlee – So.
- Competed in six tournaments as a freshman, all as an individual
- Recorded a 78.47 stroke average
- Tied for 22nd at the Coach Mo Classic (70-80-76—226), which included a career-low 70 in the opening round
- Fired a career-low 225 (73-73-79) to place 28th at the Boilermaker Spring Classic
Ashley Kim – Jr.
- Transferred to Purdue after spending the past two seasons at Arkansas State and becoming one of the best golfers in program history
- Last season, set Arkansas State’s single-season school record for stroke average (71.70)
- Three-time Sun Belt Conference Golfer of the Week
- Shot par-or-better in 12 of her 20 rounds, the third most in a single season in program history
- Claimed medalist honors and led Arkansas State to a victory at the Maverick Classic by matching the lowest 54-hole total in school history; fired a 12-under 204 (66-68-70), and her 6-under 66 in the opening was the second-lowest round ever by an ASU golfer
- Made 88 birdies as a freshman at ASU, ranking second in program history
Ella Weber – Jr. (Competing as an individual)
- Transferred to Purdue after spending the past two seasons at Michigan State
- Qualified for the 2025 U.S. Women’s Am at Bandon Dunes
- Tied for 11th at the 2025 PGA Women’s Championship of Canada and placed 16th at the Glencoe Invitational, a pair of Canadian pro events
- Made one appearance as a sophomore a season ago, tying for 70th place at the Mary Fossum Invitational at 14-over par 230 (79-81-75)
- Played in four tournaments as a freshman, recording a 75.55 stroke average
Ida Lindqvist – Fr. (Competing as an individual)
- Rose as high as No. 803 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking
- Led her school to a pair of national championships (2022, 2023) and a runner-up finish (2024)
- Recorded a 75.14 stroke average in 2024, highlighted by a sixth-place finish at the Swedish Juniortour Elite No. 6 tournament
- Was a member of the Swedish Girls National Team in 2023, competing internationally throughout Europe
THE FIELD
Abilene Christian
Ball State
Georgia Southern
Indiana
Iowa
Kent State
Lehigh
Little Rock
North Florida
Ole Miss
Purdue
Toledo
Western Kentucky
Xavier
THE COURSE
- Two championship 18-hole courses make up the Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex, both designed by legendary golf course architect Pete Dye.
- The Boilermaker Classic will be contested on the Kampen-Cosler Course, a links-style par 72 that will play at 6,342 yards.
- Kampen-Cosler is rated one of the top collegiate courses in the nation and has been awarded 4.5 stars on Golf Digest’s “Places to Play.” Kampen-Cosler is ranked as one of the most difficult golf courses in Indiana.
- The course has hosted a number of prestigious collegiate and public tournaments, including the 2003 NCAA Women’s Golf Championship and the 2005 Women’s Western Amateur. This summer, it was home to the 2025 Junior PGA Championships.
LAST YEAR’S TOURNAMENT VICTORY
- Entering the final round of the Boilermaker Classic with a 13-shot cushion, Purdue made sure the lead was never in doubt. A final round 294 (+6), led by a 68 (-4) from medalist Natasha Kiel, allowed the Boilermakers to protect their home course and win their season-opening tournament for second straight season.
- Purdue finished the season opener 15-over par on the Kampen-Cosler Course at the Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex, 14 strokes ahead of runners-up Minnesota (+29).
- The Boilermakers controlled the tournament from the start, leading the field in par-3 scoring (+4), par-4 scoring (+28) and pars (178), while ranking second in birdies (35) and par-5 scoring (-4) as a team.
HISTORY AT HOME
- The Boilermakers will be hosting a tournament on one of their home courses for the fourth time since 2019.
- The Boilermaker Classic returned to the schedule in 2023, as Purdue captured the season-opening tournament on the Kampen-Cosler Course before defending the title to start the 2024-25 season.
- The Boilermaker Spring Classic was held on the Ackerman-Allan Course last spring and in 2019. In the 2019 Boilermaker Classic, assistant coach Lauren Guiao placed fifth on the individual leaderboard with rounds of 73 (+1) and 72 (E).
THE SQUAD
- Samantha Brown and Lauren Timpf are a pair of sophomores that look to lead the team and welcome several newcomers. Brown cracked the lineup in all 14 tournaments a season ago, helping Purdue win a pair of tournament titles. Timpf played in 12 tournaments as a freshman, and her strong play at the NCAA Lubbock Regional was a key factor in the Boilermakers punching their ticket to the NCAA Championships.
- Michael Headlee also returns experience after competing as an individual in six tournaments throughout her freshman campaign.
- Transfers Ashley Kim (Arkansas State) and Ella Weber (Michigan State) join incoming freshmen Ida Lindqvist (Sundsvall, Sweden) and Luana Valero (Medellin, Colombia) as the four newest Boilermakers.
- Valero finished atop the leaderboard after five rounds of qualifying to earn the No. 1 spot in the lineup heading into the Boilermaker Classic. Kim also cracked the lineup, joining Purdue after a record-breaking season at Arkansas State.
WINNING WITH BYRD AND GUIAO
- Purdue Women’s Golf begins its fourth season under the leadership of head coach Zack Byrd and assistant coach Lauren Guiao. Over the past three years, the dynamic duo has brought the winning tradition back to West Lafayette.
- Purdue has won five tournaments under Byrd and Guiao, the most in a three-year span since winning six from 2012-14.
- After starting off the 2024-25 season with a win at the Boilermaker Classic, a victory at the Coach Mo Classic gave the Boilermakers multiple tournament wins in consecutive seasons for the first time since a six-year stretch from the fall of 2005 to the spring of 2011.
- Purdue has also claimed victories at the 2023 Boilermaker Classic, the 2023 Tulane Classic and the 2023 Mary Fossum Invitational with Byrd at the helm.
- The Boilermakers have advanced to nationals in each of the past two seasons. With the men making the NCAA Championships as well, Purdue was the only Big Ten school and one of only seven programs nationally to send both men’s and women’s teams to the national stage.
- Purdue collected just one tournament title in the five seasons prior to Byrd's arrival.
ACES ARE WILD
- While hole-in-ones are normally hard to come by, the Boilermakers miraculously made five as a team last year to pace the country.
- Samantha Brown and Natasha Kiel led the way with two apiece. Kiel made her first ace on the par-3 17th in the final round of the Boilermaker Classic at the Kampen-Cosler Course, securing medalist honors and helping Purdue win the first tournament of the season. She added another in the Coach Mo Classic, once again a team victory and individual victory for Kiel.
- Both of Brown's aces occurred this spring. Her first as a Boilermaker was during the second round of the Coach Mo Classic, helping Purdue capture the team title. She made her second in as many events, finding the bottom of the cup during the Boilermaker Spring Classic on the par-3 17th of the Ackerman-Allen Course.
- Competing as an individual, Lana Malek made a hole-in-one during the Boilermaker Spring Classic. She aced the par-3 13th on Ackerman-Allen.
- Qualifying for the first tournament this fall, Michaela Headlee and Luana Valero each made a hole-in-one at the fifth hole on Kampen-Cosler.
2024-25 RECAP
- A season ago, the Boilermakers earned a spot in the NCAA Championships for the 20th time in program history, all since 2000.
- For the second time in the past four NCAA Regionals, Purdue needed to win a playoff to advance to the NCAA Championships. Just like the 2022 NCAA Stanford Regional, the Boilermakers came through in clutch time to win the playoff and earn a berth to the national stage. After a final round 285 (-3) to jump into the Top 5, Purdue took down No. 19 Texas A&M in a 5-on-5 playoff to book a spot to the national championships.
- The Boilermakers’ regular season featured two tournament titles and two runner-up finishes.
- Capturing the Boilermaker Classic and the Coach Mo Classic, Purdue won multiple tournaments in consecutive seasons for the first time since a six-year stretch from the fall of 2005 to the spring of 2011.
- The Boilermakers also placed second at the White Sands Bahamas Invitational in the fall before earning runner-up honors at the Briar's Creek Invitational in the spring.
- Natasha Kiel earned Second Team All-Big Ten honors with the help of three individual wins, and Momo Sugiyama led Purdue in scoring average for the third straight season. Sugiyama’s 73.09 career stroke average was just .01 away from Maria Hernandez’s program record (73.08).
A LOOK AT THE SCHEDULE
- Entering his fourth season leading Purdue Women’s Golf, head coach Zack Byrd announced the 2025-26 schedule that features a pair of home tournaments along with trips to six states, Canada and Puerto Rico.
- Following the Boilermaker Classic to start the season, Purdue travels to Michigan for the Wolverine Invitational (Sept. 7-8). Two weeks later, the Boilermakers travel north of the border for the Canadian Collegiate Invitational at Beacon Hall GC in Aurora, Ontario.
- Closing out a busy first month of the season, Purdue returns to the Windy City Collegiate Classic (Sept. 29-30). The Boilermakers conclude the fall by going to Chapel Hill, North Carolina for the Ruth’s Chris Tar Heel Invitational (Oct. 17-19).
- Flipping the calendar to 2026, the Boilermakers serve as hosts of the annual Purdue Puerto Rico Classic at Grand Reserve Golf Club in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico (Feb. 1-3). A regular on the schedule from 2003-20, Byrd brought the tournament back for the third straight season.
- Purdue returns to two more tournaments that were on the schedule the past two seasons. The Boilermakers tee it up at the Spartan Sun Coast Invitational in Sarasota, Florida (Feb. 15-16) and the Briar’s Creek Invitational on Johns Island, South Carolina (March 16-17). Nestled in between the two events is the one-day Shootout at Wachesaw at Murrells Inlet, also in Byrd’s home state of South Carolina (March 9).
- Ending the month of March, the Boilermakers travel to St. Augustine, Florida to defend their title at the Coach Mo Classic (March 30-31). Serving as the final tune-up before the conference championship, Purdue welcomes teams back to West Lafayette for the Boilermaker Spring Classic. The spring tournament will take place on the other BBGC Pete Dye course, Ackerman-Allen (April 12-13).
- After venturing to the east coast the past two years to compete for a conference title, Purdue travels more than 2,000 miles for the 2026 Big Ten Championships. The league tournament is set to take place at Oakmont Country Club in Glendale, California (April 24-26).
- Rounding out the schedule, the Boilermakers plan to hear their names called for postseason play in one of six NCAA Regionals (May 11-13) with sights set on a third straight trip to the NCAA Championships in Carlsbad, California (May 22-27).
NEXT ON THE TEE
After the season-opening home tournament, Purdue heads to Michigan to compete in the Wolverine Invitational (Sept. 7-8).