The California State University, Fullerton (CSUF) women’s golf Titans wrapped up the 2025-26 regular season in April, putting the finishing touches on another impressive season. In 2024-25, the Titans won the Pat Lesser-Harbottle Invitational and the Big West Championship. This season, Titans had one tournament victory—the San Diego State Classic—and six top-five finishes in nine events heading into the 2026 Big West Championship.
While they were unable to repeat as champions at the Big West Championship, held this year at the Kā’anapali Golf Course in Maui, Hawai’i, CSUF secured another top-five finish at 3rd place and punched their ticket to the NCAA Regionals. The student-athletes showed grit and perseverance, overcoming a lackluster start to finish in third in the team standings. A pair of Titans also finished within the top five in the individual standings.
Bouncing Back after Poor Start
Fullerton entered the Big West Championship with lofty expectations as the defending champions and the only nationally ranked team in the field. However, after a poor start in the first of three rounds, they found themselves in seventh-place in the nine-team field. The Titans’ five players—Zara Ali, Davina Xanh, Kaitlyn Zermeno Smith, Kathi Zeilinger, and Louise Dahl—shot a collective 15-over par in the first round. All five golfers were over par in the round and they only had eight birdies combined.
Led by Xanh with a team-best 4-under par, the Titans were much better in the second round. Three of the five players improved their scores from the first round, while they shot a collective 1-over, moving into fourth place at 16-over par through two rounds. Xanh had five of the team’s 12 birdies in the round.
Fullerton improved upon its prior round performance once again in the final round, this time shooting a combined 7-under par to finish at 9-over and move into third place. Xanh was once again the catalyst for the team’s improved play, shooting a 7-under par with six birdies and an eagle on the par-5 18th hole. Ali also had a great round, shooting 3-under with five birdies.
Cal Poly won the Big West title with a 2-over 866. UC Davis finished in second place, one stroke ahead of Fullerton at 8-over 872.
Xanh Roars to Runner-Up Finish
With a strong final round, Xanh moved up from fourth to finish second in the individual standings, one stroke behind winner Madison Le of Long Beach State. She shot 11-under in the second and third rounds after a 4-over 76 in the round one. It was the second consecutive runner-up finish for the senior from West Super Mare, England. She finished second to fellow Titan Zermeno Smith last year and was T5 and T11 at the Big West Championship in her sophomore and freshman years.
Xanh finished first place at the PING/ASU Invitational the month before the Big West Championship and earned her fifth career Big West Golfer of the Month honor. In April, she was named Big West Golfer of the Year, a distinction she also earned as a sophomore in 2023-24. Xanh and Martina Edberg are the only CSUF golfers to win the award twice.
Career-Best Tournament Result for Ali
The Big West Championship also marked a career-best result for Ali, a junior from Leeds, England. Her T5 finish was her best placing as a Titan, while her even-par 216 tied her career-best tournament score. Like Xanh and the team as a whole, Ali rebounded from a rough start, shooting a 3-under 69 after opening rounds of 73 and 74.
Ali had five birdies and two bogeys in the final round, moving up six places to a tie for fifth with Nicole Koong (Cal Poly), Vani Karimanal (UC Davis), Elina Kuang (UC Davis), and Lauren Calderon (UC Davis).
Ali earned a Big West Honorable Mention honor following the Big West Championship.
How the Other Titans Fared
Zermeno Smith, last year’s Big West Championship winner and Big West Golfer of the Year, finished third among Titans and tied for 21st overall at the 2026 Big West Championship. The senior from Covina, California, shot a 7-over 223 (76-73-74). She had six birdies, including one on the final hole of the tournament.
Zeilinger and Dahl, meanwhile, finished T30 and 39th place, respectively, in the 52-player field. Zeilinger shot 11-over 227 (78-76-73) and Dahl scored an 18-over 234 (82-74-78). Both players showed improvement after the first round and had strong finishes on the back nine in the third round. Zeilinger shot a 2-over 39 on the front and 1-under 34 on the back, while Dahl had a four-over 41 on the front and two-over 37 on the back.
Zermeno Smith and Zeilinger were named to the All-Big West First Team alongside Xanh. This was the first time in program history that three Titans earned that honor during the same season.
The End of a Stellar Season
Although they didn’t get an automatic entry via the Big West title, the Titans secured a spot in the NCAA Regionals at Stanford through an at-large bid as the No. 43 ranked team in the nation. Ultimately, the team finished the Regionals in 10th place, shooting a combined 45-over par 897 and bringing the 2025-26 season to a close.
Again, Xanh led her teammates, finishing in 12th place. Her 8-under par 63 in round two is a single-round program record—a fitting cap on her impressive career at CSUF. She also holds program records for most rounds at par or better, most career top-20 finishes, and lowest career scoring average