University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
2025-26 Women's Golf Roster
Roster
Meghan Royal
- Height:
- 5-8
- Class:
- Senior
- High School:
- Carlsbad HS
- Hometown:
- Carlsbad, Calif.
- Previous School:
- Arkansas
Career Highlights
• All-Big Ten Second Team (2025-26)
• All-Pac-12 Honorable Mention (2023-24)
• Pac-12 Women's Golfer of the Week (Oct. 10, 2023)
• SEC Freshman of the Week (March 20, 2023)
• WGCA All-American Scholar (2023-24)
2025-26
Royal was named to the All-Big Ten Second Team in her senior season … started in all 12 events and played 35 rounds … registered career bests in scoring average (72.63), rounds played (35) and top 20s (4) and matched her career high in top 10s (2) and rounds under par (9) … ranked third on the team with nine under par rounds, five rounds in the 60s and 106 birdies … ranked second on the team with a 78.9% par-or-better percentage (eagles, birdies and pars on 484 out of 630 holes) … was UCLA’s top finisher in two events at the Stanford Intercollegiate and GameAbove Invitational … shot the lowest round by a Bruin in 2025-26 with a -5, 65 in the second round of the Stanford Intercollegiate on Oct. 18 … that was also the lowest 18-hole score of her collegiate career … top result of the season came at the GameAbove Invitational where she tied for 6th out of 60 golfers at E, 216 (74-74-68) from March 9-10 … placed seventh out of 100 at the Stanford Intercollegiate with a score of -6, 207 (70-65-72) from Oct. 17-19 … tied for 15th at the Therese Hession Regional Challenge at +3, 216 (71-77-68) from Feb. 1-3 … tied for 16th at the Bruin Wave Invitational with a score of +3, 219 (78-68-73) from Feb. 23-24 … tied for 22nd at the Big Ten Championship at +9, 219 (69-73-77) from April 24-26 … tied for 23rd at the NCAA Tallahassee Regional to close the year, shooting +4, 220 (73-70-77) from May 11-13 … 29/35 counting rounds.
2025-26 low round score: 65, round two at the Stanford Intercollegiate (Oct. 18)
2025-26 low 54-hole tournament score: 207 (70-65-72), at the Stanford Intercollegiate (Oct. 17-19)
2025-26 best finish: T-6th/60, at the GameAbove Invitational (March 9-10)
2024-25
Royal competed in nine tournaments (eight starts) and 27 rounds in her junior season … registered a 74.74 scoring average with three rounds under par … recorded her best two rounds of the season in the final 36 holes of the NCAA Championships with a 68 and 70 as a substitute … notched her best finish of the season in UCLA’s first tournament at the Windy City Collegiate Classic with a T-22nd placement at +9, 225 (72-78-75) from Sept. 30-Oct. 1 … shot a -1, 71 in the final round of the PING/ASU Invitational to finish T-32nd (+4, 220) … tied for 29th at the Big Ten Championship at +6, 222 (75-72-75) … shot -2, 214 in the final three rounds of stroke play at the NCAA Championships as a substitute from May 17-19 … 18/27 counting rounds.
2024-25 low round score: 68, round three at the NCAA Championships (May 18)
2024-25 low 54-hole tournament score: 220 (72-77-71), at the PING/ASU Invitational (March 28-30)
2024-25 best finish: T-22nd/81, at the Windy City Collegiate Classic (Sept. 30-Oct. 1)
2023-24
Royal was named All-Pac-12 Honorable Mention after registering a 72.8 scoring average over 25 rounds and eight stroke play events in her debut season as a Bruin … recorded two top 10s and three top 20s … shot under par in nine rounds … totaled six rounds in the 60s, good for second on the team … named to the Golfweek All-Match Play Team after going 2-1-0 at the NCAA Championships with 1 UP win over Texas A&M’s Bianca Fernandez Garcia Poggio in the Quarterfinals and a 4&3 win over Oregon’s Ching-Tzu Chen in the Semifinals … burst onto the scene in Fall 2023 as UCLA’s top finisher in the first two tournaments … led the team in the fall with four rounds in the 60s … recorded her first-career top-20 finish at the Mason Rudolph Championship to open the season, tying for 20th at -3, 213 (77-69-67) … bested that performance the next tournament with a runner-up finish at Windy City Collegiate Classic with a score of -9, 207 to help UCLA to its first team victory of the season (66-73-68) … Royal’s runner-up finish at the Windy City Collegiate Classic came in a field featuring nine top-25 programs, earning her Pac-12 Women’s Golfer of the Week honors on Oct. 10 … her -6, 66 in round one of the Windy City Classic on Oct. 2 marked a new career low … led the team in the fall with a 70.9 scoring average … shot under par in five of nine rounds in the fall, tying Zoe Antoinette Campos for the most on the team … three of the lowest single-round scores of her collegiate career came in the fall … tied for 21st at the Nanea Pac-12 Preview with a score of +4, 223 (75-75-73) … recorded her best finish of Spring 2024 at the Pac-12 Championships on April 21-23, tying for ninth at -3, 213 (75-70-68) … tied for 32nd at the NCAA Las Vegas Regional on May 6-8 with a score of +9, 225 (78-70-77) … tied for 39th in the stroke play portion of the NCAA Championships with a score of +8, 296 (75-69-7-75) … finished the season 2-2-0 in match play competition … 19/25 counting rounds.
2023-24 low round score: 66, round one at the Windy City Collegiate Classic (Oct. 2)
2023-24 low 54-hole tournament score: 207 (66-77-68) at the Windy City Collegiate Classic (Oct. 2-3)
2023-24 best finish: T-2nd/81, at the Windy City Collegiate Classic (Oct. 2-3)
Arkansas (2022-23)
Royal played in 18 rounds across seven tournaments in her freshman season at Arkansas prior to transferring to UCLA ... earned four starts ... posted the third-best scoring average on the team with 74.8 strokes ... totaled six rounds at or under par, including a season-low 69 in round two of the MountainView Collegiate (March 18) ... earned SEC Freshman of the Week honors after recording her best finish of the season at the MountainView Collegiate, tying for 22nd at -3 (74-69-70) ... finished with 208 pars and 43 birdies ... played great golf at the Battle at the Beach before needing to withdraw, logging a 70 in the first round and 74 in the second ... earned a spot in the lineup for the first time at the Moon Golf Invitational, tying for 32nd after carding an even-par, 216 (72-72-72) ... played in the first two rounds of the SEC Championship.
2022-23 low round score: 69, round two at the MountainView Collegiate (March 18)
2022-23 low 54-hole tournament score: 213 (74-69-70), at the MountainView Collegiate (March 17-19)
2022-23 best finish: T-22nd/90, at the MountainView Collegiate (March 17-19)
Prior to UCLA and Arkansas
Royal prepped at Carlsbad High School (Carlsbad, Calif.) under coaches Brook and Dan Brand ... won the team title and medaled at the 2021-22 CIF San Diego Section Championship, finishing -9 ... named 2019-20 New Coast League Player of the Year … invited to the 2019 Mickey Wright Invitational at San Diego County Club which hosts the top 24 high school girl golfers in San Diego County … three-time CIF San Diego Section First Team selection … finished second at the 2021 California Women’s Open where she finished +3 … collected two top-15 finishes at the 2019 and 2021 California State Women's Amateur Championships, placing fifth and 11th, respectively.
Personal
Born Meghan Grace Royal in Loveland, Colo. … parents are Darrell and Heather Royal … proud of her Native American heritage and a member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma … home course is Shadowridge Golf Club (Vista, Calif.) … has one younger brother, Mason … athletic inspirations are Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods … majors in sociology.
Meghan Royal’s Career Statistics (2022-23 at Arkansas)
| Season | Starts | Rounds | Strokes | Scoring Average | Low Score | Wins | Under Par | Under 70 | Top 10 | Top 20 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022-23 | 4 | 18 | 1346 | 74.78 | 69 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2023-24 | 8 | 25 | 1820 | 72.80 | 66 | 0 | 9 | 6 | 2 | 3 |
| 2024-25 | 8 | 27 | 2018 | 74.74 | 68 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2025-26 | 12 | 35 | 2542 | 72.63 | 65 | 0 | 9 | 5 | 2 | 4 |
| Career | 32 | 105 | 7726 | 73.58 | 65 | 0 | 24 | 13 | 4 | 7 |
