POINT CLEAR, Ala. – For the second time in the past four seasons, an Old Dominion women’s golfer has won the Sun Belt Conference Women’s Golf Championship.
Back in 2023, it was Leah Onosato who captured the program’s first individual title with a two-under par 214. The Kumamoto, Japan native received the conference’s at-large bid to the Palm Beach Garden Regional, where she finished tied for 43rd.
This time around, it was sophomore Barbara Car who won the conference tournament with a seven-under par 209. Entering the final round of stroke play tied for fifth with a one-under 143 through the first 36 holes, she rattled off six birdies on Wednesday, including four on the front nine, for a final round of six-under 66. That ties her career best round versus par as she recorded a six-under 65 in the final round of the Golfweek Fall Challenge back on Sept. 9. Car edged South Alabama’s Lilain Buehle and ULM’s Daniela Campillo Martinez by two strokes as the pair tied for second at five-under 211.
Car'ss 66 set the lowest single-round score in Sun Belt Wimen's Golf Championship history at Lakewood Golf Club. She also earned All-Tournament Team honors for finishing in the Top 5.
“Very proud of the way we played,” said ODU head coach Mallory Kane. “Our courage and determination resulted in great scores. It was a total team effort to make match play as the 10th seed.”
"I enjoyed the past three days here in south Alabama," added Car. "As a team, we made special memories that I will remember forever. Extremely happy for my first collegiate win. Can't wait for match play tomorrow!"
“Barbara withdrew from the 2025 Sun Belt Conference Championship,” continued Kane. “She had totally lost her game. One year later, she’s the champ. Her story is one of resiliency and self-belief. She is in the record books forever and her ticket to the NCAA tournament is booked!”
Also moving up the leaderboard was Mariana Arronte, who came into Wednesday tied for 12th with a two-day total of two-over par 146. The sophomore from Xalapa, Mexico shot a one-over 73 for her final lap around the Dogwood course at Lakewood Golf Club, and that moved her up to ninth place with a final score of 219 (+3).
Puneet Bajwa recorded an even 72 for the day and finished tied for 21st with a six-over 222. Ludovica Girola and Alina Shchepteva rounded out the scorecard with a pair of 19-over 235s to finish tied for 49th.
ULM came in first in the team standings at seven-over par 871, South Alabama took second at 16-over 880, and Texas State came in third at 17-over 881. The Monarchs combined for an even 288 on the day and finished stroke play tied with Coastal Carolina for fourth place, necessitating a playoff between the two programs to determine the final seed for match play.
ODU got some help early in the playoff as Coastal’s Varatkarn Kunkaew’s tee shot on the 18th hole found a tree. She could not find her ball and was forced to hit a second ball, eventually double bogeying the hole. Meanwhile, Shchepteva converted a long birdie putt from the back fringe to put the Monarchs up by three strokes. Girola bogeyed, but so did CCU's Anna Brehm. Bajwa set herself up for success with an approach shot that got her roughly 16 feet away from the cup, and she sunk her birdie putt to help clinch the playoff victory.
With the playoff win over CCU, the Monarchs advance to match play and will face top-seeded ULM in tomorrow’s semifinal round. ODU and ULM will tee off from the first hole beginning at 8:30 a.m. ET with live stats available through Scoreboard by Clippd. The match will also be streamed on ESPN+ beginning at 11 a.m. ET.
The winner will then face the winner of the other semifinal match between South Alabama and Texas State tomorrow afternoon.
“We are excited to play match play! It’s a Cinderella story and we hope to keep it going tomorrow. Go Monarchs!”
Team Results
- ULM (288-292-291 – 871) +7
- South Alabama (303-293-284 – 880) +16
- Texas State (297-290-294 – 881) +17
T4. Old Dominion (303-291-288 – 882) +18*
T4. Coastal Carolina (301-293-288 – 882) +18
- App State (285-302-299 – 886) +22
- Georgia State (304-303-285 – 892) +28
- Southern Miss (308-292-294 – 894) +30
- Arkansas State (306-300-297 – 903) +39
- James Madison (305-304-295 – 904) +40
- Georgia Southern (307-300-308 – 915) +51
- Troy (305-309-315 – 929) +65
- Marshall (314-320-307 – 941) +77
* ODU advanced following a two-team playoff
ODU Lineup
- Barbara Car (73-70-66 – 209) -7
- Mariana Arronte (74-72-73 – 219) +3
T21. Puneet Bajwa (74-76-72 – 222) +6
T49. Ludovica Girola (83-73-79 – 235) +19
T49. Alina Shchepteva (82-76-77 – 235) +19