CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Closing out the fall, Purdue Women’s Golf outplayed the top team in the country. The Boilermakers finished one shot ahead of No. 1 Wake Forest, previously undefeated, at the Ruth’s Chris Tar Heel Invitational.
Facing a field that featured six teams ranked in the Top 25, Purdue (+37) moved up from 10th to finish in eighth place, two strokes behind No. 20 Kentucky (+35). The top-ranked Demon Deacons (+38) placed ninth, and Michigan (+41) rounded out the Top 10 of the leaderboard.
Ashley Kim led Purdue throughout the tournament with a 5-over 215 (71-73-71), her best 54-hole total as a Boilermaker. The Arkansas State transfer produced the lowest scores in each of the final two rounds, including a 71 (+1) on Sunday. Kim was on fire to start the final round, carding a bogey-free 35 (-1) on the back nine before turning to the front and making back-to-back birdies at the third and fourth to move to 3-under through 13 holes. Some miscues over the last five holes prevented Kim from carding her best round as a Boilermaker. She tied for 14th among the competitive field, securing her third Top 20 of the fall.
Luana Valero tied for 26th, finishing 8-over for the tournament. Her 218 (71-73-74) bested her previous career low by three strokes. She began her final round with a birdie and moved to 2-under through four holes with a birdie at the par-4 13th.
Lauren Timpf got off to a hot start on Sunday with birdies on three of her first six holes. She made the turn 1-under but had to settle for a 74. Ella Weber contributed to the team score with a 74 of her own in the final round.
Samantha Brown ranked fourth in par-5 scoring throughout the event, playing those holes 3-under par. Her opening round 69 (-1) was Purdue’s best of the tournament, the third time this season that the sophomore fired a round in the 60s.
The Ruth’s Chris Tar Heel Invitational was the fifth and final tournament of the fall for Purdue. Flipping the calendar to 2026, the Boilermakers return to the links and serve as hosts of the annual Purdue Puerto Rico Classic at Grand Reserve Golf Club in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico (Feb. 1-3).
BOILERMAKERS
T-14. Ashley Kim: 71-73-71—215 (+5)
T-26. Luana Valero: 71-73-74—218 (+8)
T-35. Lauren Timpf: 71-76-74—221 (+11)
T-47. Samantha Brown: 69-80-75—224 (+14)
T-67. Ella Weber: 74-82-74—230 (+20)
*T-60. Ida Lindqvist: 75-77-76—228 (+18)
*Competing as an individual
TEAM LEADERBOARD
- #16 Auburn: 281-274-280—835 (-5)
- #17 Duke: 282-285-283—850 (+10)
- NC State: 275-287-289—851 (+11)
- Virginia Tech: 283-281-296—860 (+20)
- #7 South Carolina: 287-281-294—862 (+22)
- #21 North Carolina: 283-292-289—864 (+24)
- #20 Kentucky: 290-288-297—875 (+35)
- Purdue: 282-302-293—877 (+37)
- #1 Wake Forest: 296-284-298—878 (+38)
- Michigan: 288-293-300—881 (+41)
- UNCW: 298-293-305—896 (+56)
- Louisville: 289-298-310—897 (+57)
T-13. Miami (FL): 304-297-301—902 (+62)
T-13. FIU: 305-296-301—902 (+62)
15. Rollins: 310-314-311—925 (+95)