FORT COLLINS, Colo. — UC Davis continues its four-event fall slate this Monday-Tuesday, Sept. 21-22 at the Ben Connell Ram Classic hosted by Colorado State at the Ptarmigan Country Club in Fort Collins, Colo.
The top four spots in the UC Davis lineup will be the same as in the Aggies' season opener last Monday-Tuesday at the Leadership and Golf Invitational with true freshman Nina Choe holding down the No. 1 spot in the lineup and followed by Vani Karimanal, Michelle Ho and Gabriella Ilard. Wendi Ma will replace Yu (Yoyo) Bai in the fifth spot, while Claire Chang will participate as an individual for the second straight event.
The 13 teams in the Ben Connell Ram Classic are scheduled to play 54 holes over two days with the first 36 on Monday followed by the final 18 on Tuesday. Monday's action begins with a shotgun start at 7:45 am MT for all players, while the third-round tee times scheduled for Thursday will be determined following the conclusion of 36 holes.
In addition to UC Davis and host Colorado State, the field includes Cal Poly, Hawaii, Nebraska, Nevada, Northern Colorado, San Diego State, Southern Miss, UNLV, Washington, Washington State and Wyoming. Washington is the only team in the field that also played at the Leadership and Golf Invitational last Monday-Tuesday with the Huskies serving as the co-host.
The top four scores in each round from each team's five-player lineup will count in the team score.
The first 2026-27 rankings are expected to be announced in late September and Mid-October.
The Ben Connell Ram Classic is the second of four events on the Aggies' four-tournament fall schedule that began with the Leadership and Golf Invitational co-hosted by Seattle and Washington (Sept. 14-15). The Marilynn Smith Sunflower Invitational hosted by Kansas (Oct. 5-6) and the Stanford Intercollegiate hosted by Stanford (Oct. 16-18) remain on the fall slate.
BEN CONNELL RAM CLASSIC - MONDAY-TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 21-22, 2026
FOLLOW
LINEUP
1 - Nina Choe, Fr., New York, N.Y./The Ursuline School
- Tied for fifth at the season-opening Leadership and Golf Invitational (68-71-75 - 214, -2) despite opening her third-round 10 with a quintuple bogey on the par-five fourth
- Won four amateur events in 2025 and 2026
- Became the second player ever and the first since Dottie Pepper in 1981 to win both the NYS Girls 18U Junior Amateur and the NYS Women's Amateur in the same calendar year in 2026
2 - Vani Karimanal, Sr., San Jose, Calif/Piedmont Hills HS
- Tied for 27th overall and was the third Cal golfer on the leaderboard at the season-opening Leadership and Golf Invitational (74-74-74 - 222, +6)
- Two-time All-Big West Championship selection
- Had four top-20 finishes in 2025-26 highlighted by a fifth-place showing at the 2026 Big West Championship that earned her a spot on the All-Big West Championship squad for second straight season
- Also picked up honorable mention All-Big West honors overall in 2025-26
- Has the second-lowest returning stroke average by an Aggie this season after averaging 73.85 over 29 rounds as a 2025-26 junior
- Third-place finish at 2025 Big West Championship highlighted 2024-25 season (74.77, 30 rounds)
- 11 career top-20 finishes over 29 tournaments and 85 rounds
- Won the 2026 California Women's Championship
3 - Michelle Ho, So., San Ramon, Calif./Dougherty Valley HS
- Tied for 17th overall and was the second UC Davis golfer on the leaderboard at the season-opening Leadership and Golf Invitational (69-75-76 - 220, +4)
- 2026 Big West Freshman of the Year and honorable mention All-Big West after posting a 74.12 stroke average over while playing in all 29 events as 2025-26 freshman
- Also had a top-20 showing with a 16th-place finish at the 2026 Juli Inkster at TPC Harding Park
- Top finish as a 2025-26 rookie was a seventh-place showing at the Leadership and Golf Invitational in her collegiate debut
4 - Gabriella Ilardi, Sr., Ripon, Calif./Eastern Washington/Ripon HS
- Had UC Davis' best individual round Tuesday in the third and final round at the season-opening Leadership and Golf Invitational before finishing in a tie for 40th overall as the fourth UC Davis Cal golfer on the leaderboard at the season-opening Leadership and Golf Invitational (75-79-71 - 225, +9)
- Played in five events and 15 rounds while posting a 76.00 stroke average as a 2025-26 junior in her first season at UC Davis after transferring from Eastern Washington
- Top 2025-26 showing was a 37th place finish at the Causeway Invitational
- Had eight top-20 showings in two seasons at Eastern Washington (2023-25) with a third-place showing at the PSU Invitational as a 2024-25 sophomore her top finish while she was 11th at the Big Sky Championships the same campaign
5 - Wendi Ma, So., Buzbnbhou, China
- Did not play in the 2026-27 season-opening Leadership and Golf Invitational
- Played in two events and posted a 75.92 average in two events and six rounds in 2025-26
- Top collegiate finish was tying for 19th while playing as an individual as a true freshman in 2025-26 at the Causeway Classic Invitational, while also tying for 50th at the San Diego State Classic
Ind - Claire Chang, So., Bellevue, Wash.,/International Virtual Learning Academy
- Tied for 44th overall while playing as an individual at the season-opening Leadership and Golf Invitational (74-79-76 - 220, +13)
- Played two events as a 2025-26 freshman with a top showing of 44th at the Causeway Invitational
ABOUT UC DAVIS ATHLETICS
UC Davis, ranked No. 2 among public universities by the Wall Street Journal in the value of a college degree, is home to 40,000 undergraduate students and 12,000 employees. Ranked top in the United States in agriculture and forestry as well as No. 1 in veterinary medicine, UC Davis is located in a true California college town nestled between world-class destinations such as the San Francisco Bay Area, Napa Valley and Lake Tahoe. Over 650 Aggie student-athletes compete in 25 Division I varsity sports, with 16 sports transitioning to the Mountain West Conference beginning in 2026-27.
For more information, visit ucdavisaggies.com.
