Texas freshman Charlotte Naughton wins European title with NIL momentum

by Golf NIL Staff

September 28, 2026

Texas freshman Charlotte Naughton launches her college career with a new European title and professional opportunities ahead.

Last week, the European Golf Association named the 18-year-old from Northumberland, England, the inaugural winner of the Women’s European Amateur Order of Merit, a new season-long European ranking.

The title comes with more than a gold medal. Naughton earned invitations to two professional events: the Ladies’ Italian Open on the Ladies European Tour and the Super Bock Ladies Open on the LET Access Series. For a player just starting her college career, those invitations open doors to professional fields and audiences beyond the college game. The Italian Open was played September 25-27, days after she confirmed her title.

The EGA announced the EAOM in November 2025 and opened its pilot season in January 2026. The new race ran through 15 of Europe’s biggest amateur events, from Portugal and Spain to Germany and Sweden. Six results counted. By September, the player who had been there week after week would have the points, the title, and a route into professional fields through the LET and LETAS.

Charlotte Naughton competes for Great Britain & Ireland at the 2026 Curtis Cup at Bel-Air Country Club in Los Angeles | Chris Keane/USGA

Naughton posted top-five finishes at the Portuguese International Ladies’ Amateur, the Copa Sotogrande, the German International Women’s Amateur and the St Rule Trophy. Those results earned her a spot in the European Ladies’ Amateur Championship, which she went on to win.

The 800 points she earned in Sweden made up more than half of her final total of 1,436, sending her from seventh to first in the standings. She finished more than 500 points clear of the field.

That performance earned her a start in the AIG Women’s Open at Royal Lytham & St Annes. She qualified just days before the event and missed the cut, but still added a major start to her resume and a week alongside the game’s best players.

Naughton’s season is an early blueprint for what the new EAOM can produce. For international players headed to college, it also shows how results overseas can help shape future NIL opportunities.

“My targets for 2027 are to have a successful freshman year at the University of Texas, to continue to represent my county, and to put myself in contention at high-level tournaments,” she told the Northumberland Gazette.

Naughton is represented by Excel Sports Management and counts adidas Golf and PING Golf Europe among her NIL partners. She begins her freshman season at Texas after closing the 2025–26 school year at No. 30 in the Golf NIL High School Girls Rankings, bringing a season-long European body of work behind her.

In November, Naughton will represent England at the Spirit International Amateur Golf Championship at Whispering Pines Golf Club in nearby Trinity, Texas.

The men’s EAOM also named its first winner this week, with England’s Eliot Baker taking the inaugural title.