A major change is coming to women’s college golf this fall.
Earlier this month, the NCAA Women’s Golf Oversight Committee approved a change to the .500 rule. The committee voted to amend the .500 rule for women’s golf so that it is satisfied when a team is at or above .500 in any of the following scenarios:
- At the end of all regular-season play; or
- At the end of all regular-season play and its conference championship (stroke play);or
- At the end of all regular-season play and its conference championship (stroke playand match play).
Teams must have a head-to-head record of at least .500 to make the NCAA postseason. Previously, teams could fall below the number during conference championships and not be eligible for the postseason. Now, that’s not the case. The conference tournament can only help teams make the NCAA postseason, not hurt their chances.
An example of how this would be applied is South Carolina. The Gamecocks finished the 2025-26 season with a head-to-head record of 55-58-3, meaning they were ineligible for the NCAA postseason. However, their record before the SEC Championship was 51-49-1. Under the new rules, that record would guarantee them a spot in the NCAA postseason and regionals regardless of performance in the conference championship.
The men’s subcommittee has not proposed an amendment to the .500 rule but plans to discuss the topic at a future meeting.
Additional changes include the committee approving a clarification to regular-season match play events, noting any singles match that does not reach its conclusion will not count toward rankings. As such, unfinished matches during the regular season should not be recorded as completed matches. This change was made to ensure consistency in the way match play results are recorded across all regular-season and postseason competitions. The committee also approved a request from the women’s subcommittee to allow teams to send as many players to a team event to compete as individuals as long as they declare it prior to the Sept. 1 schedule deadline. From a legislative standpoint, it would still count as a team date of competition if you send five or more players, even if they don’t post a team score.
The committee also received a report from NCAA staff on the process, which is tentatively scheduled to begin in August 2026 and includes all men’s and women’s regionals and finals sites for the 2028-29 through 2030-31 academic years. Omni La Costa Resort & Spa, which has two years remaining on its contract to host the Division I NCAA Men’s and Women’s Golf Championships, is expected to put in a bid for the 2029-31 championships.
Cameron Jourdan is an assistant editor of Golfweek, covering college and amateur golf, the PGA Tour and plenty more. Follow Cameron on X/Twitter (@Cam_Jourdan) or Instagram (@GolfweekJourdan).
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: NCAA committee makes major change to .500 rule for women’s college golf
