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WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – On National Signing Day, Purdue Director of Golf Zack Byrd announced that Ida Lindqvist (Sundsvall, Sweden) and Luana Valero (Medellin, Colombia) will join the women's golf program for the 2025-26 season. The newest Boilermakers are two of the best international golfers in the class of 2025.

Throughout program history, Purdue has been known for bringing in top talent from around the world. The tradition continued as Byrd and assistant coach Lauren Guiao went to Colombia and Sweden to sign a dynamic duo. Both Lindqvist and Valero are featured in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), with Valero becoming one of the highest ranked signees in Purdue Women's Golf history. The Golf Channel's Brentley Romine ranked Valero as the No. 17 prospect in the world, including No. 3 among players signed by Big Ten programs.

"For this class, Lauren (Guiao) and I focused on recruiting top international talent and building our worldwide recruiting pipelines for 2025 and beyond," said Byrd. "We could not be more excited to have Ida and Luana become Purdue Boilermakers. Both players bring incredibly talented resumés with them to West Lafayette. Boiler Up!"

  • Ranked No. 241 in the world at the time of her signing (World Amateur Golf Ranking)

  • No. 17 ranked prospect in the world, including No. 3 among players signed by Big Ten programs, according to Golf Channel's Brentley Romine

  • Has won eight tournaments and racked up 29 Top 10 finishes over the past two years

  • Won four of the 16 tournaments she competed in during 2024, capturing victories at the South American Championship in Uruguay, the Junior Open in Chile, the Camilo Villegas Cup and the Enrique Santos Cup in Ecuador

  • Finished seventh at the 2024 World Junior Girls Championship in Canada, one of nine Top 10s throughout her 2024 campaign

  • Recorded a 75.18 stroke average in 2023, collecting four victories throughout the year

  • Won the 2023 Colombian National Amateur

  • Led her team to the 2023 South American Championship in Bolivia

  • Claimed medalist honors at the 2023 Mariajo Uribe Cup as well as the 2023 Open De La Sabana

  • Placed 23rd at the 2023 Women's Latin America Amateur

  • Also competes in swimming and speed skating


BYRD ON VALERO
"Luana's resumé speaks for itself as one of the highest ranked signees in program history. While recruiting Luana, her fierce competitiveness was immediately apparent and fit exactly what we look for when it comes to signing new Boilermakers. Since committing, she has risen over 100 spots in the world while competing at the highest level internationally. We are extremely happy to welcome her to West Lafayette in August."  

Signing Day: Ranking the Class of 2025’s top players, classes

  

Published November 13, 2024 07:01 AM​​

The Class of 2025’s early signing period for men’s and women’s golf begins on Wednesday – and things will be a little different.

Looming roster limits will have some recruits not signing and instead scrambling for new homes while the national letter of intent has been replaced by grant-and-aid agreements that give more flexibility to the student-athletes.

It could be an early signing period full of surprises.

On the men’s side, Vanderbilt is bringing in a trio of top-25 talents, including No. 2 Michael Riebe and No. 6 Will Hartman, who at one point was arguably considered best in class. Auburn also has a deep class led by top-ranked recruit Logan Reilly. Henry Guan reclassified and will sign with Oklahoma State while Joshua Bai will enroll at Florida in January. Chase Kyes switched from Alabama to Tennessee just last month, a shocker to those in Tuscaloosa, while Sweden’s Simon Hovdal could be Texas Tech’s next international star.

Duke edged out Texas A&M for the best women’s class, as the Blue Devils plan to sign Rianne Malixi, the U.S. Women’s Amateur and U.S. Girls’ Junior champion, and Avery McCrery, who won this year’s Girls Junior PGA. Both are top-5 signings. The Aggies, though, probably have the deepest, with three of their four signings ranked in the top 13, including No. 3 Scarlet Schremmer, who had been committed to Miami, then Texas, before settling on Texas A&M. It’s always more international heavy on the women’s side, and Thailand’s Eila Galitsky (South Carolina) and Australia’s Sarah Hammett (USC) join Malixi in the top four. Galitsky is rumored to be joining the Gamecocks this spring while Hammett draws comparisons to a former Trojan from that part of the world, New Zealand’s Amelia Garvey.

Women

TOP 30 PLAYERS
1. Rianne Malixi, Duke
2. Eila Galitsky, South Carolina
3. Scarlet Schremmer, Texas A&M
4. Sarah Hammett, USC
5. Avery McCrery, Duke
6. Elizabeth Rudisill, Vanderbilt
7. Arianna Lau, Northwestern
8. Sophie Han, Oregon
9. Madison Messimer, Tennessee
10. Natalie Yen, Texas A&M
11. Pimpisa Rubrong, Arizona State
12. Chloe Kovelesky, Wake Forest
13. Brynn Kort, Texas A&M
14. Ryleigh Knaub, LSU
15. Thanana Kotchasanamanee, Princeton
16. Matilda Bjorkman, Ole Miss
17. Luana Valero Moyano, Purdue
18. Athena Yoo, UCLA
19. Kacey Ly, UCLA
20. Kathryn Ha, Vanderbilt
21. Thapasit Thitikarn, Tennessee
22. Anna Song, Stanford
23. Maye Huang, UCLA
24. Yu-Chu Chen, Oklahoma State
25. Kristina Xu, Columbia
26. Camila Zignaigo, Cal
27. Mingyu Zhang, Michigan
28. Katelyn Huber, Florida
29. Swetha Sathish, Arkansas
30. Yuuki Takada, Virginia

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