YPSILANTI, MI – The UBC Thunderbirds leaned on some freshman talent to help climb to the top of the team leaderboard during round two of the 2026 NAIA Women's Golf National Championship, Thursday at Eagle Crest Golf Club in Ypsilanti, Mi. Heading into Friday's third and final round of the now 54-hole tournament the defending champion T-Birds erased a four shot deficit in round two and find themselves as co-leaders alongside top-seed Dalton State with both schools sitting at (+32) overall. The 'Birds improved by two overall strokes on day two finishing (+15) compared to their weather delayed opening round of (+17) on Wednesday.
Dalton State finished the day (+19) adding six more strokes than they needed in their impressive opening round of (+13), meanwhile SCAD Atlanta sits just two shots back in third, while SCAD Savannah is three strokes off the pace in fourth spot, creating a logjam heading into the championship round.
For the second consecutive day it was a UBC first-year student-athlete carding the top individual score on the big stage in Michigan, Thursday it was Grace Yao, shooting a (1-under, 71). This after fellow T-Bird freshman Katherine Hao was the only player at par (E, 72) to sit alone atop the individual leaderboard at the conclusion of the weather delayed opening round on Wednesday. Hao continues to hold the 'Birds best individual score after carding a (+4, 76) in round two, falling one spot and now in a four-way tie for second place at (+4 overall). Hao and three others are looking up at Makena Junkin from Texas Wesleyan who holds the tournament individual lead after her (+1, 73) on Thursday has her sitting at (+3) overall.
Yao, a Sauder School of Business student at UBC surged up the leaderboard in round two with her low score on the day and now sits (+8) in a three-way tie for 12
th spot on the strength of six birdies Thursday. This included a stretch where Yao was in a zone, making five of those birdies in a span of seven holes from (hole 7 to 13).
Hao, now just one shot off the individual lead leaned on her consistency again in round two parring 12 holes while balancing out a birdie on the twelve hole to go along with four bogies on the day.
Second-year T-Bird Keira Hou isn't far behind on the individual leaderboard sitting in 15
th place after a (+6, 78) in round 2 has her at (+9) overall. Fellow second-year teammate Sienna Harder also climbed after an identical (+6, 78)
Thursday has her at (+13) overall and in 41st spot. Rounding out the group is Jessica Ng shot a (+13, 85) in round two and through 36 holes currently sits in 71
st place at (+20).
The field has been cut down and the top 15 teams will compete in Friday's championship round with the T-Birds set to tee off between 10:00 a.m. and 10:40 a.m. PT. (1:00 p.m. and 1:40 p.m. ET.)
Leaderboard
You can catch the rest of the championship on live stream:
https://urbanedgenetwork.net/live?school=naia-championships