TALLAHASSEE – It’s a great time to be Kaylah Williams.

On April 19, the senior led Florida State to its first ACC Championship in women’s golf at the Sedgefield Country Club in North Carolina.

On May 2, she’ll walk across the graduation stage at the Donald L. Tucker Center, shake FSU President Richard McCullough’s hand, and earn her degree in psychology.

On May 3, she’ll board a plane bound for the NCAA Lexington Regional Championship where Florida State will compete to advance to the NCAA Championship Finals. As the No. 3 ranked team in the nation, the Seminoles are one of the favorites to advance to the NCAA Championship Finals from the Lexington Regional.

“It is going to be hard to beat winning the ACC championship last week,” said William’s. “However, I am extremely excited for the coming weeks ahead. It’s going to be so much fun; most certainly a memorable way to finish my college career.”

While Wiliams and the Seminoles prepare for their appearance as the No. 1 seed in the NCAA Regional at the Keene Trace Golf Club in Nicholasville, Ky., she also puts the finishing touches on her outstanding academic career. She earned academic Dean’s List honors six times and academic President’s List honors – for a perfect 4.0 GPA. She will be academically honored following this final semester giving her academic honors in each of her eight semesters at Florida State.

Wiliams has been named to the ACC Academic Honor Roll three times and to the WGCA All-American Scholar team three times. She’ll certainly make it a clean sweep as a four-time honoree on both prestigious academic lists at the end of this Spring 2025 semester.

“It’s great earning a degree especially so far away from home,” said the Cape Town, South Africa native. “I am the first in my family that has studied abroad and earned a degree. I am so honored for it to be a degree from Florida State University.”

Williams’s mother (who will fly to Tallahassee from South Africa) and aunt will watch adoringly from a front row seat inside the Tucker Center as she crosses the graduation stage.

For Williams, who serves the Seminoles as their team captain, her success on the golf course has coincided with her success in the classroom.

When the Seminoles’ 2025 season comes to a conclusion, Williams will have played in three ACC Championships, three NCAA Regional Championships (Raleigh, Las Vegas, and Lexington), and hopefully two NCAA Championship Finals during her career. She enters the 2024 Lexington Regional championship ranked in the top 20 in school history for stroke average, tied for the school’s all-time lead with six wins in match play competition, and helped the Seminoles win 11 tournament championships during her career.

But nothing will compare to Williams’s play in the Seminoles’ first ACC Championship in school history earlier this season.

Wiliams won her match against Wake Forest’s Sarah Ludic with a seven-foot putt on her final hole to tie the overall team score at 2-2. Freshman Alexandra Gazzoli then won her match, also on her final hole, to give the Seminoles the first ACC Championship in school history.

“My most memorable moment at Florida State has definitely been sinking my last putt and winning the ACC championship,” said Wiliams.

The Seminoles’ ACC Championship was the sixth of a school-record tying six wins for Williams and her teammates this season. She has been in the lineup for five of the six titles (the Schooner Fall Classic, the Landfall Tradition, the Collegiate Invitational at the Guadalajara Country Club, the Briar’s Creek Invitational, the Florida State Match Up, and the ACC Championship) while playing the best golf of her career.

Wiliams will lead the No. 3 ranked Seminoles in the NCAA Regional championships with a career-low scoring average of 74.17. She’s earned a career-best two top-10 finishes (eighth place at the Jackson T. Stephens Cup and a career-best second place at the Florida State Match Up. Wiliams carded her career-low score of 66 in the third round of the Florida State Match Up as she led the Seminoles to the championship of their home tournament.

“I am extremely honored and grateful that I am in this position for the team,” said Wiliams. “It was so much fun winning the ACC championship. We care so much for one another and that is what made it so special in the end. Heading to regionals, we are going to work hard and grind to continue onto nationals.”

Williams has cut nearly two full strokes from her scoring average when she played in four events as a freshman. She’ll play in her 10th event of her senior season at Keene Trace and has played 14 of 24 rounds with scores of 75 or better as a senior.

Williams will close out her collegiate career with Seminole head coach Amy Bond (the 2025 ACC C0ach of the Year) at her side, as she has been since her first event at the Schooner Fall Classic during the fall of 2021.

“We all know how hard Kaylah has worked to get to where she is on the golf course,” said Bond. “The growth  she has shown as a team leader to become our team captain this year is the aspect of her journey that has impressed us as coaches the most. She is certainly playing the best golf of her career as we approach the most important time of the season. Kaylah’s academic success throughout her career exemplifies how she has kept her priorities in order, and we couldn’t be prouder for her as she graduates from Florida State University.”

Williams and Bond share a tremendous relationship as illustrated by their walk up the final fairway during the ACC Championships.

“Coach Bond was with me down 18,” said Williams. “One thing that really calmed me was when she said ‘Kaylah, whatever happens, I don’t care, I’m proud of you.’ That shows for coach it’s not all about winning. It’s about doing your best and giving it your everything.  That’s exactly what I did. She knew that I had a little bit left in me. For her to be there when I executed my last hole was something really special to me.”