PALM DESERT, Calif. – The Carleton women's golf team is tied for 12th following the opening round of the 2026 NCAA Division III National Championships, held at Desert Willow Golf Resort. 

The 18th-ranked Knights started strong on the Mountain View Course on Tuesday, sitting just two strokes outside of the top-10 in the field of 34 teams and 15 strokes behind the round one leader, Carnegie Mellon. 

Junior Mindy Zhai led the way for the Knights with a brilliant round.  The Winter Garden, Fla., native put up a pure card with 13 pars on the day.  She finished the front nine even par before finishing one-over on the back.  She tallied a pair of birdies on the day, including the 478-yard par-five ninth and the 348-yard par-four 16th.  She stands tied for 18th on the individual leaderboard.

Senior Carter Sichol followed with a two-over-par 74 opening round.  Sichol, who is competing in her fourth consecutive NCAA Championships, was steady once again, recording 14 pars.  She put up matching one-over-par scores of 37 on each nine, highlighted by a birdie on the 445-yard par-five 12th hole.  Sichol is tied for 26th individually.

Sophomore Anna Lee is the only other individual inside the top 50 through one round.  Lee carded a team-high three birdies on her way to a four-over-par 76.  She went 38-38  and is tied for 45th, while seniors Sarah Zheng and Cynthia Lu posted scores of 83 (+11) and 86 (+14), respectively.

The Knights will tee off on the Firecliff Course tomorrow beginning at 8:40 a.m. PT / 10:40 a.m. CT.  Carleton will aim to climb the leaderboard and remain inside the top 15 in order to continue its championship contention and compete in the final two rounds to end the week.