CHAMPAIGN — A return to familiar championship venues, a home tournament at one of the nation's most recognizable golf courses and another ambitious national schedule await the Illinois women's golf team during the 2026-27 season.
Head coach Renee Slone announced the Fighting Illini's schedule this week, unveiling a 10-tournament regular season that stretches from Texas to North Carolina before the postseason begins with the Big Ten Championships in April.
Illinois opens its fall campaign Sept. 8-9 at The Bruzzy, hosted by North Texas in Trophy Club, Texas.
The Illini then travel to Madison, Wisconsin, for the Badger Invitational, Sept. 13-15. The event returns the team to University Ridge Golf Course, where Illinois captured its first tournament championship of last season. Freshman Alexis Myers also claimed medalist honors there after firing a 9-under-par 207.
October brings the Fighting Illini back home to familiar territory with a pair of events in Illinois.
Illinois first competes in the Windy City Classic, hosted by Northwestern at Glen View Club on Oct. 5-6. One week later, the Illini welcome teams to the Illini Women's Invitational at Medinah Country Club's Course 2 on Oct. 12-13.
The tournament gives Illinois an opportunity to compete at Medinah during a season in which the storied club will also host the prestigious President's Cup.
The fall schedule concludes Oct. 26-27 at the French Broad Collegiate Invitational in Asheville, North Carolina.
Competition resumes after the winter break with the Spartan Suncoast Invitational in Sarasota, Florida, on Feb. 14-15. Illinois then heads back to Texas for the Chevron Collegiate, hosted by Houston on Feb. 22-23.
The March schedule includes the Mountain View Collegiate, co-hosted by Kansas State and Missouri, at the Preserve Golf Club in Tucson, Arizona, from March 14-16.
Illinois opens April at the Olde Stone Collegiate, hosted by Western Kentucky on April 5-6, before wrapping up the regular season at the Boilermaker Spring Classic on April 11-12.
The Fighting Illini will be looking to defend one of their strongest recent traditions at Purdue after winning the Boilermaker Spring Classic team title in each of the last two seasons.
Postseason play begins April 23-25 at the Big Ten Championships in Farmington, Pennsylvania, at Nemacolin Resort.
The NCAA Regionals are scheduled for May 10-12 at six sites: Aiken, South Carolina; Dallas, Texas; Fort Wayne, Indiana; Franklin, Tennessee; Palm Beach Gardens, Florida; and Stanford, California. Teams advancing from regional competition will compete for the national championship May 21-26 at Omni La Costa Resort in Carlsbad, California.
Illinois enters the new campaign looking to build on a successful 2025 season that produced the 10th NCAA Regional appearance under Slone and the program's best postseason finish since 2019 with a seventh-place showing at the NCAA Stanford Regional.
Fans and supporters will also have an opportunity to back the program later this month during the 2026 Illini Women's Golf Classic at Atkins Golf Club in Urbana.
Tournament dates and times are subject to change.
