Thunderbird (W-Golf) Finishes 5th at Nationals, Sandren Earns First Team All-American Honors
The T-Bird women's golf team finished the 2026 NJCAA DI Women's Golf Championship in fifth place on Thursday, May 14.
"Words can't fully explain how proud I am of this group, not just this week but all season," NMJC women's golf head coach Kendalyn Ferguson said. "We were a very young team that maintained a top 4 to top 6 ranking all year and finished fifth at the national championship. It all feels like a huge success."
Tova Sandren made history this week in Coal Valley, Ill. The freshman finished in fourth place at 14-over par. The fourth-place finish is the highest finish in program history and earns the Swede NJCAA First-Team All-American honors.
Nanami Hayakawa and Hinano Kishida are the only other women's golf All-Americans. The duo was named NJCAA Honorable Mention All-Americans in 2024.
"Tova had an outstanding week and truly improved each round," Coach Ferguson said. "She settled in on Monday, battled through Tuesday, and then really made her move on Wednesday with a +2, 73. She made several clutch par saves, added a birdie, and worked incredibly hard for every shot out there."
Sandren entered the final day at 13-over par following rounds of 77-76-73. The freshman began the day with a bogey on No. 1 and then made seven straight pars. She bogeyed No. 9 to go out in 37 (+2). Sandren went birdie-bogey on holes 13-14 and then added a second birdie on No. 16. She finished the round with two pars to shoot a 1-over 72 in her final round. Sandren was tied for third in par-5 scoring at even par through 72 holes.
Sandren ended her freshman campaign at 14-over after recording a 72-hole total of 77-76-73-72. She earned NJCAA First-Team All-American honors with the performance this week at Oakwood CC.
"Oakwood CC demands discipline and patience, and she embraced that challenge," Coach Ferguson said. "Tova followed Wednesday with an even better round on Thursday, shooting +1, 72. Again, she kept to her routines even when things didn't go her way, she regulated her emotions, and moved with intention both days."
"Tova was aggressive off the tee, had great tempo when it came to hitting into the green, and fully committed to her short game. It was just really good golf to watch, and I'm extremely proud of what she accomplished this week and all year."
The Thunderbirds shot a 20-over par 304 in the final round to finish the week at 121-over par. NMJC has now finished in the top 5 at nationals in each of their first three years.
The course was a challenge and really evened out the playing field. It truly took showing up every day to put in the work. I was incredibly proud to see this team regroup, continue to improve throughout the week, and finish as strong as they did.
No. 2 ranked Daytona State won by one stroke over No. 1 Odessa College at 69-over. Seminole State was third at 116-over and Weatherford was fourth at 120-over.
Napajira Luesattha of Odessa College won the individual title at 6-over par with rounds of 75-73-74-68.
The T-Birds shot 315 (+31) in Round 1, 324 (+40) in Round 2, 314 (+30) in Round 3, and a 304 (+20) in Round 4 to record a 72-hole total of 1257 (+121).
"Going into the tournament, I felt a top-five finish would be a huge accomplishment," Coach Ferguson said. "We put ourselves in a great position on Monday, had a tougher day on Tuesday, and then responded exactly how we needed to the final two rounds. We improved by 10 shots on Wednesday and then followed it up with another 10-shot improvement on Thursday, posting our best round of the week and one of the best rounds of the day."
Giuliana Frutos finished her Thunderbird career in a tie for 32nd place at 37-over following rounds of 78-83-78-82. Frutos was 4-over on the front nine recording three bogeys, a double, and a birdie. The Paraguayan struggled down the stretch with five bogeys and one double on her back nine to finish the day with an 11-over final-round 82.
Sophie Brothwood finished her first season with the T-Birds in 39th place at 41-over following rounds of 76-82-82-85. Brothwood had a tough day on the course in her final round. She was 9-over in her first nine holes but did shoot a 5-over 41 on the back nine to finish with a 14-over 85 in her final round.
Sub Ella Cornwell had a fantastic final round on Thursday shooting a 2-over 73. The freshman sat out Round 3 but was inserted into the lineup for the final round and she sure delivered. Cornwell's opening nine featured three bogeys and a birdie to make the turn at 2-over. The Ormskirk, England native made three bogeys, three pars, and three birdies on her back nine to come in at even and shoot a 2-over 73 in her final round. Cornwell shot 84-84-SUB-73 over 54 holes of play.
Megan Dawson finished nationals with a 6-over 77 as the final member of the team score. Dawson was 3-over on her front nine and shot 3-over on the back nine with a birdie sprinkled in on both nines. She ended nationals shooting 88-SUB-81-77.
The Thunderbirds are a freshmen heavy squad this year with five of the six members at nationals first year players. The lone sophomore at nationals this week was Giuli Frutos. Next season NMJC will have a plethora of talent coming back.
"I'm very excited about next season and honestly have been since I recruited this group," Coach Ferguson said. "Throughout the year, our focus was simply taking care of the next job in front of us, and this team did that consistently. For such a young group to maintain our ranking all season and finish top five nationally is a tremendous accomplishment."
"At the same time, they gained valuable experience every single week, and that will only help moving forward. I'm going to miss Giuli a lot. She has been a leader and contributor to this program since the beginning of her freshman year, and I'm excited to see what she accomplishes at the next level."
The T-Birds finish their third season under head coach Kendalyn Ferguson with one individual title, two team wins, an NJCAA First Team All-American, and a third straight top-5 finish at the NJCAA DI Women's Golf Championship.
"After the success of this week, I'm already excited for the 2026–27 season.," Coach Ferguson said. "We return five players who all competed in at least two rounds this week, and we'll also add some newcomers who should really strengthen our depth moving forward."