Gophers’ Isabella McCauley reflects on career-best golf season

MINNEAPOLIS — This season, Isabella McCauley became the first women’s Gopher golfer in 36 years to play in back-to-back NCAAs. 

She got there with some drama — coming from behind twice in Big Tens and then regionals.

“Electric for sure,” said McCauley. “Crazy. The same thing for the last day of Big Tens. The way I was so far back and then needed a really good score to come through and both times it happened. So that’s always fun to do. Those are the moments you live for in competitive sports.”

With a Big Ten championship and a win in the fall season opener, McCauley is speeding by career landmarks. She’s just a sophomore.

“Being able to have won two already is beyond my expectations or anything I imagined,” said McCauley.

As a junior golfer, McCauley was the youngest Minnesotan to ever qualify for the U.S. Women’s Open and won a high school state title. Next season, her two-time state champ younger sister, Reese, will join her at the U. Right now, McCauley is the only Minnesotan on the roster.

“A lotta people, especially in golf — you have a tendency to want to move south and all of that,” said McCauley. “I think, for us, we really like the idea of playing for our home state and being able to rep Minnesota.”

So far so good — with a lot of golf yet to be played.

“Definitely going into next season there’ll be some heightened goals,” McCauley said. “You always have to push yourself. You never know how good you can play until you do it. So just pushing myself to dig even further.”