Kaila Higgins, a freshman on Chapman women’s golf, had just finished teeing off in the qualifying round for the women’s U.S. Open May 3. But those 36 holes at the Brentwood Country Club in Los Angeles were the last thing on her mind. The young golfer was awaiting a bid to the NCAA Division III Women’s Championship.

Higgins played the first 18 holes, then called her coach Ming Lao, who said he hadn’t heard anything of her chances to move on. So she strapped her gloves back on and went out for the next 18 — then saw a text message from Lao with a single message: “You’re good.” 

In disbelief, she called the one person she knew she had to immediately notify: her grandfather. 

“Him and my uncle got me into golf,” Higgins said of her grandfather. “He wanted me to call him anyway after my round, but when I told him, he was super excited.” 

Higgins, the ninth-ranked Division III women’s golfer in the nation, is just the second at Chapman —  after Emily Lewis in 2019 —  to make it to the NCAA championships. She will be one of six women competing at the Forest Akers Golf Course in Lansing, Michigan, for the individual title.

But her feat comes bittersweet. 

While it looked promising for the men’s golf team to reach the national tournament in Wheeling, West Virginia, after winning the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) title, the NCAA denied the institution’s request for entry, according to Jennifer Dubow, the director of the SCIAC.

In an email to The Panther May 5, Dubow stated the SCIAC “exhausted its options” of pleas to the NCAA in an attempt to get a waiver for Chapman’s participation. The NCAA responded to the SCIAC, she said, stating there weren’t enough teams participating in Chapman’s conference to qualify; the NCAA wanted each conference to field at least four teams. Chapman only faced the University of Redlands and California Lutheran University in the SCIAC this season.

“There’s a lot of East Coast bias,” said Lao, the coach of the men’s and women’s teams. “They use logistics. They’ll pick a team closer to the site so they don’t have to pay as much for travel. Us being out in California makes us the most expensive ticket.”

Lao even stuck his neck out for a player on Redlands —  Joshua Fambro, the 29th-ranked player in Division III — saying Fambro was “snubbed” after not being selected for the individual tournament. Lao noted that players ranked below Fambro were selected.

Despite the NCAA’s cold shoulder towards SCIAC athletes, Chapman senior golfer Brody Hval is still proud of his teammate Higgins for qualifying, hoping she can represent the Panthers with pride in Michigan.

“We obviously want her to play well,” Hval said. “As a freshman, it’s awesome she’s going and we’re going to support her and wish her luck in the tournament.”

Higgins recognizes the disappointment on the men’s side and wants to make sure she does her best to represent Chapman golf as a whole.

“They deserve to go so bad, so I’ll definitely be playing for them,” Higgins said of her teammates. “I told them after I made it, ‘I got you.’”