Kai Trump has made it clear that golf is her main focus as she starts college life at Miami. But while the freshman says she is staying away from the party scene to focus on her game, her collegiate debut showed that she still has plenty to work on.
Trump shot a 7-over-par 78 on Sunday at the 2026 Golfweek Fall Challenge, finishing tied for 102nd among 120 players at Caledonia Golf & Fish Club in Pawleys Island, South Carolina.
The round came just as a separate video clip posted by NUCLR GOLF on X, with Trump discussing her transition to college life, began circulating online.
“I feel like I haven’t really explored Miami yet because I’m so busy with the golf and stuff like that,” she said. “But I’m here for golf. I’m not here to party in Miami, so I guess it’s okay.” She also described a demanding daily routine that comes with being a Division I athlete: “I wake up every day at like 5 a.m., and then I don’t go to sleep until like 9, or I try to go to sleep at 9. Normally, I don’t go to sleep until like 10:30.”
Starting on the 10th hole, she made a birdie on the 12th and finished the first nine holes at 2-over 38. It was a decent start for her first college tournament. However, things became harder on the back nine. She made a double bogey on the par-5 second hole and shot 40 on the way back, finishing with a 78. The round showed some good moments but also some mistakes, which is normal for a freshman playing her first college start.
Overall, Trump’s 78 was very different from the scores at the top of the leaderboard. Troy’s Manya Saini and High Point’s Rachel Joyce shared the individual lead at 5-under 66. High Point led the team event at 11-under, five shots ahead of Campbell. They were six shots ahead of the next group and 12 shots ahead of Trump.
Kai Trump was one of two Miami golfers playing as an individual instead of counting toward the team’s official score. This is a common setup for freshmen who are still trying to earn a spot in their team’s top five.
This is not the first time Trump’s opening round on a big stage has attracted attention for the wrong reasons. In November 2025, she made her LPGA debut at The ANNIKA driven by Gainbridge at Pelican Golf Club after receiving a sponsor exemption. She shot a 13-over 83 in the first round and was last among the 108 players in the field.
Trump improved in the second round with a 5-over 75, but she still missed the cut. She finished the tournament at 18-over. After the round, Trump openly spoke about what went wrong.
“I was definitely more nervous than I expected, but I thought I hit a lot of great shots out there,” she said. “I hit a lot of good shots just to the wrong spots.”
Despite her tough start, she also received praise from an unexpected name. U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau, who had met Kai Trump at the Ryder Cup, called her second-round score “really impressive” in a November 2025 interview after her LPGA debut. He also described her as “a grinder and a competitor.”
None of this is too surprising because Kai Trump did not have much competitive experience before reaching either level. Before her LPGA debut, she was ranked 461st in the American Junior Golf Association’s girls rankings. Her recruitment by Miami was based more on her potential as a scratch golfer and her huge social media following than on a long list of tournament wins.
When Miami signed Trump in November 2025, head coach Janice Olivencia said the program knew there would be a lot of attention around her.
“We view any potential exposure as positive for Miami golf,” Olivencia said. “Our current team is a very mature and intelligent group of women. So, we anticipate that we will handle all the attention with great composure and enthusiasm.”
A 78 is not the start Trump wanted for her college career. However, it follows a pattern that fans have already seen. She has a lot of attention and high expectations, while also needing time to adjust to a higher level of golf. Because of her famous name, her struggles get more scrutiny than they might for another freshman.
There is still plenty of the fall season left. The bigger question is not her 78 on Sunday. It is whether she can build on the progress she showed between her two rounds at The ANNIKA and continue to improve in college golf. As the year goes on, her performance on the course will matter more than the attention around her name.