Women’s Golf Selected No. 13/14 in Preseason Rankings; Three Waves Earn Individual Recognition
9/2/2026 12:40:00 PM | Women's Golf
MALIBU, Calif. — Pepperdine women's golf came in at No. 13 in the 2026-27 Golf Channel Preseason Top-30 and No. 14 in the Golfweek Preseason Rankings, while three Waves earned individual preseason recognition, announced this week.
Junior Eunseo Choi was named a Golf Channel Preseason All-American Second Team selection, sophomore Kylee Choi earned Preseason All-American Third Team honors and freshman Kaya Daluwatte was selected to the Preseason All-Freshman Second Team. Eunseo Choi also tabbed Golfweek Preseason Second Team All-American recognition.
"Returning All-Americans Eunseo and Kylee are ready to start the season after very productive summers of golf," said head coach Laurie Gibbs. "Kaya is an accomplished freshman that joins the team after competing around the world the last two years. Everyone is excited to play in New Mexico in less than two weeks."
Pepperdine enters the new campaign following another successful season in 2025-26, highlighted by the program's 22nd West Coast Conference Championship under head coach Laurie Gibbs and a run to the match play quarterfinals at the NCAA Championship. The Waves finished eighth among 30 teams through 72 holes of stroke play at the NCAA Championship to advance to match play before concluding the season tied for fifth at the Championship. Pepperdine also finished second at the NCAA Stanford Regional to earn its 15th NCAA Championship appearance and third in the past four seasons. The Waves earned three team victories throughout the season, winning the Fresno State Classic, Yale Invitational West and WCC Championship.
Eunseo Choi is coming off a standout sophomore season, which saw her earn WCC Player of the Year honors along with WGCA Second Team and Golfweek Third Team All-American recognition. Choi captured individual titles at both the WCC Championship and Fresno State Classic, bringing her career total to three collegiate victories, and helped lead Pepperdine to the WCC team title and match play at the NCAA Championship. She finished in the top 20 in 10 of 11 tournaments, including seven top-10 performances, highlighted by a top-10 finish at the NCAA Regional and a top-20 showing at the NCAA Championship. Choi finished the season with a 71.38 scoring average and ranked No. 18 nationally in the final individual Differential rankings. She was also named to the WCC All-Academic Team and became one of just 10 Waves in program history to earn multiple WGCA All-American Scholar honors.
Kylee Choi put together a breakout freshman season in 2026, earning All-American Honorable Mention recognition, WCC Freshman of the Year honors and a spot on the WGCA All-Freshman Team, which annually recognizes the top five freshmen in collegiate golf. Choi set a Pepperdine freshman scoring record with a 71.79 average across 34 rounds and recorded six top-five finishes throughout the season, including third-place showings at both the Golfweek Red Sky Classic and Bruin Wave Invitational. She finished the year ranked No. 33 nationally in the final individual Differential rankings, the second-highest ranking among all freshmen in the country, and was also named a finalist for WGCA Freshman of the Year.
Kaya Daluwatte arrives at Pepperdine as one of the top amateur golfers in Asia and as the top-ranked female golfer from her home country of Sri Lanka. Daluwatte has collected numerous international victories, including consecutive Sri Lanka Amateur Open titles in 2024 and 2025, the 2024 Nepal Amateur Open and the 2025 Singha Thailand Junior World Championship. She made history in October 2025 by earning bronze at the Asian Youth Games in Bahrain, becoming the first Sri Lankan golfer to medal at the event. Daluwatte continued her strong play in 2026 by capturing the Faldo Series Sri Lanka Championship and Sri Lanka Junior Match Play Championship. She also represented Sri Lanka at the Women's Amateur Asia-Pacific Championship earlier this year.
The trio will join returners Grace Anderson, Irene Kim and Nishna Patel along with transfer Katelyn Kong as the Waves gear up for the 2026-27 campaign. The new season begins Sept. 14-15 at the Branch Law Firm / McGuire Invitational in Albuquerque, hosted by the University of New Mexico. It will mark Pepperdine's 22nd time competing in the tournament, having placed top-five in its past six appearances, including its fourth victory at the event in 2023.
A full list of Golf Channel's preseason rankings and honorees can be viewed here. Golfweek's preseason team ranking can be found here, with individual honorees here.
ABOUT PEPPERDINE WOMEN'S GOLF
Pepperdine women's golf has consistently been one of the top collegiate programs in the country under head coach Laurie Gibbs, exemplified by the current streak of 27 straight seasons with an NCAA Regional appearance. Having advanced to the NCAA Championships on 15 of those occasions, the Waves also boast 22 WCC Championships since 1998. Since the year 2000, 18 athletes have garnered All-American honors with a total of 36 selections.
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