NCAA adding 3 teams to D1 women’s championship starting in 2023

The size of the NCAA Division I Women’s Golf Championship is increasing.

The NCAA announced Monday that beginning with next year’s national championship, 27 teams will compete, up from 24 teams in recent years. The move was made “to provide an equitable championship access ratio across both Division I men’s and women’s golf, with 10% of both men’s and women’s teams now advancing from regionals to the finals site.”

The men have a 30-team field for their championship.

“There is extreme importance in providing as many participation opportunities as possible for our student-athletes,” said Bradford Hurlbut, chair of the Division I women’s golf committee. “With an additional three teams qualifying for the finals site, up to an additional 18 deserving women’s golf student-athletes will have an opportunity to compete in the national championship finals, which is an important step for the sport of women’s golf and the  championship.” 

Last season, the number of women’s regionals increased from four to six. The NCAA says a “strength-of-field metric” will be used to determined which three regionals will have five national berths available and which three will still have four.