Rianne Malixi arrived at Duke in the fall of 2025 as one of the most celebrated players in women’s amateur golf.
Malixi had completed the rare double of capturing titles in the U.S. Girls’ Junior Amateur Championship and the U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship in the summer of 2024.
That made for a busy summer of 2025 as Malixi teed it up in a bunch of women’s professional major championships. The start of her freshman year of college was interrupted when she represented her native Philippines in the World Amateur Team Championship at Tenah Marah Country Club in Singapore, where she was the runnerup in the individual standings.
Somebody with the Duke program, probably head coach Dan Brooks, was smart enough to assign another freshman, Avery McCrery, the Wilmington, Del. native, to be Malixi’s roommate.
I suspect Malixi is something of a rock star in golf-mad Asia, but that wasn’t going to do her any good when it came to becoming acclimated to Durham, N.C. Duke is no pushover academically either, so there was that, too.
McCrery must have done a good job of helping Malixi get familiar with her new surroundings because by the spring portion of the wraparound 2025-2026 season, the Philippine Flash had found her footing.
Malixi was the runnerup in the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship at Porters Neck Golf Club in Wilmington, N.C. She helped the Blue Devils reach the NCAA Championship as they finished in third place as the two seed in the Ann Arbor Regional.
Once at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, Calif. for nationals, Malixi led the Dookies to a spot in the match-play bracket, where they dropped a hard-fought 3-2 decision to eventual runnerup Southern California in a quarterfinal match.
Malixi accounted for one of Duke’s points by winning her match in the loss.
Malixi was back in Wilmington, N.C. for the Landfall Tradition and she rolled to a nine-shot victory in difficult conditions at the Country Club of Landfall’s Pete Dye Course with a 12-under 204 total.
The Landfall was in is traditional spot on the schedule at the end of the fall campaign and wrapped up Oct. 25th. Apparently, the wind always blows at the Country Club of Landfall and it was blowing pretty hard in late October.
It didn’t seem to bother Malixi, No. 8 in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), much, though.
After opening with a 4-under 68 over the 6,265-yard, par-72 Pete Dye Course, Malixi ripped off a scintillating 8-under 64 in the second round to take command of the individual race. Malixi matched par in the final round with a 72 to finish at 12-under.
Malixi led Duke to the team title as the Blue Devils finished with a 5-over 869 total that left them eight shots clear of ancient ACC rival Wake Forest and Southeastern Conference power South Carolina. Duke defeated the Demon Deacons to claim the last of their seven national championships in the Final Match at the Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, Ark. in the spring of 2019.
Duke opened with a 2-under 286, which turned out to be the best team round of the weekend, stretched its lead with a 2-over 290 in the second round and closed with a 5-over 293.
The Blue Devils had begun the weekend at No. 6 in the Scoreboard, powered by clippd, rankings and moved up to No. 4 in the aftermath of their victory in the Landfall Tradition.
Duke was coming off a team victory earlier in the month in another traditional event on the fall schedule, the Ruth’s Chris Tar Invitational at North Carolina’s Finley Golf Club in Chapel Hill, N.C.
The Blue Devils won with an 11-under 841 total and Malixi again led the way with a runnerup finish in the individual standings.
Duke had another finisher inside the top five in the individual chase as its steady veteran senior, Katie Li, the Basking Ridge, N.J. native who is No. 70 in the Women’s WAGR, finished among a trio of players tied for fifth place at 1-over 217.
Li contributed a 3-under 69 to Duke’s fast start in the opening round, struggled a little with a 4-over 76 in the second round and matched par in the final round with a 72.
Wake Forest had begun the weekend of the Landfall Tradition at No. 1 in the Scoreboard rankings and dropped a spot to No. 2 following its runnerup finish.
The Demon Deacons opened with a 2-over 290, struggled a little in the second round with a 9-over 297, but closed with another 290, the best team round of the final round, to finish eight shots behind Duke in a tie for second place with South Carolina with a 13-over 877 total.
Wake Forest was led by its veteran senior, Macy Pate, a home girl from Winston-Salem, N.C. and No. 24 in the Women’s WAGR. Pate was Malixi’s closest pursuer as she opened with a 2-under 70, added a 2-over 74 in the second round and closed with a solid 69 to earn runnerup honors with a 3-under 213 total, nine shots behind Malixi.
The Demon Deacons captured the team crown in the Tallahassee Regional last spring, but were unable to carry that momentum to the NCAA Championship and La Costa, where they failed to earn a spot in the match-play bracket.
South Carolina, behind a couple its veterans, Eila Galitisky, a junior from Thailand and No. 13 in the Women’s WAGR, and Vairana Heck, a senior from France and No. 77 in the Women’s WAGR, closed with a solid 5-over 293 to get a share of second place with Wake Forest at 13-over.
The Gamecocks struggled a little in the opening round with a 9-over 297 before moving into contention on the strength of a 1-under 287 in the second round.
Galitsky sandwiched a 4-under 68 in the second round with a pair of 2-over 74s to get a share of third place with Kentucky’s Cathryn Brown, a senior from Eddyville, Ky. and No. 83 in the Women’s WAGR, each landing on even-par 216.
Heck bounced back from an opening round of 4-over 76 with a 1-under 71 in the second round and a 2-under 70 in the final round as she ended up among the trio tied for fifth place along with Duke’s Li and Florida State’s Alexandra Gazzoli, a junior from Palm Coast, Fla., at 1-over.
South Carolina dropped a spot from No. 7 to No. 8 in the Scoreboard rankings following its runnerup finish in the Landfall Tradition.
Another ACC power, Florida State, finished another nine shots behind Wake Forest and South Carolina in fourth place with a 22-over 886 total.
The Seminoles, who maintained their No. 17 spot in the Scoreboard rankings following their fourth-place finish in the Landfall Tradition, opened with a 5-over 295, struggled to a 300 in the second round and closed with a solid 3-over 291.
Florida State was led by Gazzoli, who opened with a 2-over 70, added a 2-over 74 in the second round and closed with a 1-over 73 to join the trio tied for fifth place at 1-over.
The Seminoles had another top-10 finisher in Haruhi Nakatani, a sophomore from Japan and No. 69 in the Women’s WAGR, as she finished in a six-player logjam tied for ninth place at 4-over 220.
Nakatani added a 2-over 74 in the second round to her opening-round 75 before closing with a solid 1-under 71.
Florida State advanced to the NCAA Championship at La Costa last spring with a runnerup finish as the fourth-seeded host of the Talahassee Regional. The Seminoles were unable to make a run to the match-play bracket at nationals.
SMU, another ACC representative, finished a shot behind Florida State in fifth place with a 23-over 887 total.
The Mustangs were Duke’s closest pursuer going into the final round as they opened with a 5-over 293 and added a solid 1-over 289 in the second round. SMU struggled in the final round with a 305.
SMU was led by Yoonjeong Huh, a senior from South Korea who finished among the quintet tied for ninth place at 4-over. Huh added a 2-under 70 in the second round to her opening round of 1-over 73 before closing with a 77.
SMU had a pretty special spring earlier this year, reaching the ACC final before falling to eventual national champion Stanford and then winning the team title as a four seed in the Waco Regional. The Mustangs made a run at a spot in the match-play bracket in the NCAA Championship, but came up short.
SMU entered the Landfall Tradition at No. 37 and moved up to No. 28 following its fifth-place finish.
Kentucky, an SEC representative, finished five shots behind SMU in sixth place in the loaded 18-team field with a 28-over 892 total.
The Wildcats opened with a solid 3-over 291 and added a 293 in the second round before struggling a little in the final round with a 308.
Kentucky was led by Brown, who opened with a 2-under 70 and added a 2-over 74 in the second round before matching par in the final round with a 72 to share third place in the individual standings with South Carolina’s Galitsky at even-par 216.
Backing up Malixi and Li for Duke was Mia Hammond, a freshman from New Albany, Ohio and No. 65 in the Women’s WAGR, as she finished among the group tied for 30th place with a 9-over 225 total.
Hammond added a 4-over 76 in the second round to her opening-round 77 before matching par in the final round with a 72.
Another freshman, Spaniard Martina Navarro Navarro, finished in the group tied for 36th place for Duke with a 226 total. Navarro Navarro opened with a solid 2-over 74 and added a 75 in the second round before closing with a 77.
Rounding out the Duke lineup was McCrery, a standout at the Tower Hill School before finishing up her high school studies with the ICL Academy, the on-line arm of the American Junior Golf Association (AJGA).
McCrery picked off a pretty big junior prize herself in the summer of 2024 when she captured the title in the Girls Junior PGA Championship at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Md.
At the Landfall Tradition, McCrery posted back-to-back 3-over 75s in the first two rounds before closing with a 77 as she finished among the group tied for 41st place with a 227 total.
Duke’s Carla De Troia, a junior from France, competed as an individual and joined her teammate Navarro Navarro in the group tied for 36th place at 226. De Troia matched par in the opening round with a 72 and added a 2-over 74 in the second round before struggling a little in the final round with an 80.
North Carolina State’s Marie Eline Madsen, a talented junior from Denmark, finished alone in eighth place in the Landfall Tradition as she opened with a sparkling 4-under 68 before backing off a little with a 4-over 76 in the second round and closing with a 74 for a 2-over 218 total.
Auburn star Anna Davis, a senior from Spring Valley, Calif. and No. 16 in the Women’s WAGR, was also part of the fivesome tied for ninth place at 2-over.
Davis, who helped the United States reclaim the Curtis Cup with a 13-7 victory over Great Britain & Ireland at Bel-Air Country Club in Los Angeles in Davis’ home state, matched par in the opening round with a 72 and added a 1-under 71 in the second round before struggling a little in the final round with a 5-over 77.
It was a bit of a disappointing weekend for the Tigers, an SEC power, as they entered the Landfall Tradition at No. 2 in the Scoreboard rankings and finished in a tie for eighth place with a 36-over 900 total. Auburn fell back to No. 7 in the Scoreboard rankings in the aftermath of the Landfall Tradition.
Valencia Chang, a freshman from Singapore for host UNCW, was also in the group at 4-over as she opened with a solid 2-under 70, backed off with a 5-over 77 in the second round before closing with a 73.
The Seahawks got a share of eighth place with Auburn in the team standings at 36-over.
Rounding out the group tied for ninth place at 300 was South Florida’s Laura Nepper, a sophomore from France who opened with a 1-over 73 and added a 75 in the second round before matching par in the final round with a 72. Nepper transferred to USF after spending her freshman year at South Carolina.
The Battlin’ Bulls, an American Athletic Association representative, finished in a tie for 12th place in the team standings with a 43-over 907 total.
Another junior standout of recent vintage to come out of Delaware, Sarah Lydic, was in the lineup for Wake Forest and finished in the group along with McCrery tied for 41st place at 227.
Lydic, a junior at Wake Forest, was a two-time Delaware Interscholastic Athletic Association (DIAA) champion, once at Sussex Academy and again as a senior at Indian River. She was a repeat winner of the BMW Philadelphia Women’s Amateur Championship at Jericho National Golf Club in July.
Lydic was unable to survive a playoff among nine players for the final two spots in the match-play bracket in the U.S. Women’s Amateur at The Honors Course in Ooltewah, Tenn. in August.
At the Landfall Tradition, Lydic opened with a solid 1-over 73 and added a 76 in the second round before closing with a 78.
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