Check out this conference-by-conference breakdown, with shows movement among all conferences.
In golf, conference championships can be a gateway to the postseason. Win the conference title, and a team gets an Automatic Qualifying spot in an NCAA Regional. It’s one reason so much conference movement of late is such an interesting topic in college golf.
Teams like Oklahoma and Texas, which recently announced their departure from the Big 12 in favor of the SEC (effective in 2025, or potentially sooner), have made national headlines across sports. But outside of such visible moves, there’s still plenty of shuffling.
Below, check out the conference-by-conference breakdown, with teams joining and leaving each conference indicated in the chart.
*-joining conference x-leaving conference y-announced move to NCAA Division III
Editor’s note: Some of these moves are happening this season, and some will happen in upcoming seasons.
It’s not easy to win a golf tournament, let alone at the Division I level as a freshman. Rose Zhang begs to differ.
The Stanford freshman has now won the first two starts of her collegiate career, claiming The Molly last week and now the Windy City Collegiate Classic on Tuesday at Westmoreland Country Club in Wilmette, Illinois.
Zhang, the 2020 U.S. Amateur and 2021 U.S. Junior Amateur champion, shot rounds of 72-70-70 to finish at 4 under, one shot clear of Florida junior Jackie Lucena and three of Texas freshman Bohyun Park. The trio were the lone players to finish under par on the individual leaderboard.
On the team leaderboard it was a lot of the same. Stanford took the title as a group as well, finishing at 14 over, eight shots clear of runner-up Virginia. Joining Zhang in the top 10 was Aline Krauter, who finished T-7 at 4 over.
Florida (+26), Texas (+28) and Oregon (+35) round out the top five.
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Kristie Elliot didn’t set out to change Canadian college football, but she did!
The 21-year-old student-athlete arrived at Simon Fraser University seeking a Psychology degree while competing in the sports she loved: track and soccer. But a bet shook up her world.
Watch the moment a single kick changed her life and made history in the player above.
Challenged by friends on the football team to attempt a 40-yard field goal, Kristie hammered one straight through the uprights. When the football coach saw the video, she was invited to try out as a kicker for the team.
Three years on, she’s made history as the first Canadian woman to receive an NCAA football scholarship.
East Tennessee State showed its toughness in tough mountain conditions.
East Tennessee State spent the week at Red Sky Golf Club in Wolcott, Colorado, juggling numbers. Golf at elevation – especially for a team coming from the Volunteer State – requires quite a bit of math.
“Obviously it was an adjustment and then when the winds picked up, it made it even more – you’re shooting the flag, you’re throwing up for the wind, you’re taking off for elevation, you’re adding for slope because it’s not a flat golf course either,” said ETSU head coach Stefanie Shelton.
Under such conditions, it’s important to pick a number and ultimately commit to it, and the Buccaneers were able to do it on their way to winning the Golfweek Red Sky Classic. When a storm passed over the area during Tuesday’s second round, chopping up the day and causing the tournament to be reduced from 54 holes to 36, ETSU players gritted their teeth and kept going. The Bucs had already secured a share of the lead in the first round and wouldn’t let go.
ETSU opened its season close to home earlier this month at the Tennessee-hosted Mercedes-Benz Invitational and finished 10th. Shelton said her players expected more from themselves.
Real “college-golf conditions,” as she called the weather at Red Sky, set up an opportunity to test that. Shelton said the whole team tried to relax as conditions worsened.
On the individual leaderboard, Tereza Melecka finished second, Sera Hasegawa tied for third and Hollie Muse tied for sixth. ETSU’s 6-under team total left them one shot ahead of Denver.
“I thought this team was extremely tough this week and really never showed signs of letting up or letting anything bother them,” Shelton said. “Of course it was cold and windy and we all had our gloves on and needing umbrellas and things but yeah, they just accepted it and kept playing. I was very proud of that.”
Last spring, ETSU won the Southern Conference title to earn an Automatic Qualifying spot in the postseason. They were sent to the LSU-hosted NCAA Regional in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, which was controversially canceled. As a result of no golf being played, the top six seeds were selected to advance from the site. ETSU was No. 16.
The turnover from that team was significant as Shelton graduated three players and brought in some new blood for this season. Shelton, however, remembers not only the frustration but the realization that came from being a championship team. Both are motivating for her, and the two returners from that squad.
“The two that came back, being part of a championship team – that does give you the confidence that we are champions and we’re coming everywhere to play and play well and I think the newcomers, they’re stepping into a team that just won a championship and want to play well,” she said.
Two tournaments in, Shelton likes the vibe.
“Really seem to have that tough and go play, do-anything mindset.”
The Road to Grayhawk is a Golfweek blog that contains all current college golf news throughout the regular NCAA season.
The road all college golf teams hope to travel down this spring ends at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona, site of the NCAA Women’s Championship (May 21-26) and NCAA Men’s Championship (May 28-June 2).
After two seasons interrupted in various ways by the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2021-22 college golf season is off to a strong start as the first fall tournaments kicked off across the country in September and the Road to Grayhawk resumed. Interested in all things college golf from now until spring? Be sure to check this page for the latest updates in the game.
Familiarity has allowed BYU to become closer and closer as a team, particularly this season.
For the better part of two years, BYU head coach Carrie Roberts has had a window into the kind of success her team has enjoyed publicly this past month. At times, it was that knowledge, which inspired a deep belief in her team, that kept her going through a start-and-stop and often unpredictable season.
“Very difficult time,” Roberts said in describing the challenges that the COVID-19 pandemic brought to college athletics and to life in general, “and the teams that could stick together during those times, I think you’re going to see thrive this year.”
BYU is a living example, having won its first two starts of the fall season and then putting itself in position to win a third on Wednesday at the Golfweek Red Sky Challenge.
Nearly two years have passed since there was any normalcy in college golf. When the 2019-20 season ended abruptly at the start of the pandemic, BYU had finished fourth or better in six of eight starts and was ranked No. 66 in the Golfweek/Sagarin College Rankings.
“We were a pretty good team before the break,” Roberts said. “The exact same team came back and different situations in different states, you weren’t allowed to play golf, you didn’t have tournaments. So just maybe some motivation was waning. . . . They came back and weren’t ready to play – we competed but weren’t ready to compete.”
Familiarity has allowed BYU to become closer and closer as a team, particularly this season. Roberts calls it an evolvement of culture over time.
“You have to evolve as a team – this team has evolved and has gone through a lot of downs and realized they didn’t like that.”
Playing in their first tournament of the season, the Dick McGuire Invitational, the Cougars went 8 under for 54 holes and overtook San Jose State for a six-shot victory.
Six days later, BYU teed it up across the country at the Tennessee-hosted Mercedes-Benz Invitational. Roberts’ team edged Miami by three shots to start its season 2-and-2 – the first time since the fall of 2016 that BYU has won consecutive tournaments.
Now, back in the mountains at Red Sky Golf Club in Wolcott, Colorado, BYU has put itself in contention for a third win.
“We’re at 4,300 feet (at home) in Provo – it wasn’t a big adjustment, maybe half a club to a club,” Roberts said of the elevation.
BYU trailed Northern Arizona and East Tennessee State by two shots after the first round. When weather moved through Red Sky in the second round, it chopped up the day enough that the tournament was shortened from 54 holes to 36. BYU had a handful of holes to play Wednesday, but the topic of a third win was very much on the table.
That speaks to an openness in the team room.
“We talk about it all the time, you just have to roll with things,” Roberts said. “Just go with the flow and be ready when it comes. They were prepared.”
Even as the winds picked up in Vail, Colorado, Northern Arizona didn’t give up a bit of ground.
VAIL, Colo. — Even as the winds picked up across Red Sky Golf Club’s Fazio Course Monday, Northern Arizona didn’t give up a bit of ground.
Altitude is nothing new for the women from Flagstaff, Arizona, though this kind of mountainous landscape is a bit more extreme.
“If you would have told me we were tied for the lead after one round, I would be thrilled,” Northern Arizona head coach Brad Bedortha said. “Nice to see our team go out and compete.”
NAU played the opening round at Red Sky in 9 under to take an immediate share of the lead at the Golfweek Red Sky Classic. That was thanks in large part to a back-nine 31 from Eliska Kocourkova, who started on No. 10 with a bogey then fired off four birdies in a row before making a hole-in-one at the par-3 17th, a picturesque short hole with a huge elevation drop.
“Definitely exceeded our expectations for today,” said Bedortha. “We got off to a great start. The girls were making birdies right out the gate.”
East Tennessee State is also at 9 under and with star performances of their own. Sara Hasegawa eagled the par-5 18th, her ninth hole of the day, for an opening 70 to go along with rounds of 67 from Tereza Melecka and 69 from Hollie Muse.
“The Fazio Course at Red Sky is an amazing course and it was fun watching the ladies attack it today,” head coach Stefanie Shelton said. “It can be a tricky setup with some of the pin positions, so the next two days will be a challenge I’m sure.”
Both teams lead Brigham Young University, which was the on-paper favorite entering the tournament after back-to-back victories in its first two fall starts at the Dick McGuire Invitational and the Mercedes Benz Collegiate. Two “local” teams fared well on the first day, as well. Denver and Colorado are both part of a tie for fourth, along with Central Arkansas, at 5 under.
Denver’s Anna Zanusso, who competed at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur in April, is the defending champion but opened with 1-over 73. Teammate Anna Cathrine Krekling fired a 6-under 66 good for a share of the individual lead with BYU’s Kerstin Fotu.
The event at Red Sky is in its 12th playing after not being played in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The traditional conference challenge aspect changed this year to feature a wider field. Interestingly, the defending Division II national champion Dallas Baptist is in the Division I field this week and in a share of the 13th after a 5-over 293 to open the week.
Rose Zhang is the best junior girl to head to college in decades – possibly ever.
Rose Zhang begins her competitive career at Stanford on Monday at The Molly Collegiate Invitational in Seaside, California.
Zhang enters college golf with a game so complete, that no one would’ve been a bit surprised to see her win an LPGA event as a teenager, much like Lexi Thompson, Brooke Henderson, Paula Creamer, Lydia Ko or Morgan Pressel. There’s still time for that, of course, as she’s only 18.
While all of those players went straight from high school to the professional ranks, Zhang is the best junior girl to head to college in decades – possibly ever.
In July, Zhang became the eighth player to capture the U.S. Girls’ Junior and U.S. Women’s Amateur, but the first to win the Women’s Am title first. A two-time AJGA Player of the Year (2020, 2019), Zhang has commanded the No. 1 ranking for more than a year and twice earned the McCormack Medal as the world’s leading amateur.
Tiger Woods, Maverick McNealy and Patrick Rodgers hold the record at Stanford with 11 career victories. Andrea Lee holds the women’s record with nine.
Zhang could topple that record, if Rachel Heck doesn’t beat her to it first. Heck won six times last spring in one semester of golf.
So far, Zhang is off to a memorable start in Palo Alto, winning the team’s first multi-round qualifier by 10 strokes. The effort was highlighted by her first hole-in-one on the par-3 17th at Stanford Golf Course with a 5-iron from 170 yards. Teammates Heck, last year’s NCAA individual champion, and Aline Krauter were witnesses and documented the moment.
🚨ACE ALERT🚨
Freshman Rose Zhang recorded her FIRST EVER HOLE-IN-ONE today on number 17 at Stanford Golf Course! 🥳
Even with Zhang on campus, the Cardinal won’t start the season in full strength. Heck isn’t in the lineup at The Molly because she’s under the weather, and Angelina Ye is still back in China wrapping up the Chinese National Games.
Zhang told reporters at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur last spring that college would help her to mature. Back then, it wasn’t clear if Zhang would actually make it to college. She kept saying she was going – but would she really?
“She feels she has a lot more to learn,” explained Zhang’s longtime instructor George Pinnell.
The last time a marquee player like Zhang showed up to college was the late 90’s when Grace Park and Beth Bauer, who won 18 (Park) and 17 (Bauer) AJGA titles and were both two-time AJGA Players of the Year, went to Arizona State and Duke, respectively. Park holds the all-time record of career AJGA victories along with Leigh Anne Hardin and Kellee Booth.
“Rose Zhang would make the LPGA tour today, and she will make it in one, two, three or four years from now,” said Arkansas head coach Shauna Taylor.
“I don’t ever see the rush, as college is a great opportunity to gain something someone can never take away from you: a degree.”
Last week, Taylor’s Arkansas team got their annual up-close look at tour life at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship. Three current Razorbacks and four former players were in the field in Rogers. For those coming back, the Arkansas stop feels like home on a global tour that’s downright exhausting.
Zhang, who hails from California, came to Stanford with friends already on the team, and this week begins the quest toward helping the Cardinal claim a second national team title. She recently led Team USA to a strong comeback at the Curtis Cup in Wales, going 4-0-1.
One of the most remarkable moments of the 2021 Ryder Cup was Rory McIlroy’s emotional television interview after his Sunday singles victory. McIlroy, a four-time major winner, called his six Ryder Cup appearances the greatest experiences of his career.
“I have never really cried or got emotional over what I’ve done as an individual,” said McIlroy. “I couldn’t give a s—. But this team, and what it feels like to be a part of, to see Sergio (Garcia) break records, to see Jon Rahm come into his own this week, to see one of my best friends, Shane Lowry, make his Ryder Cup debut. … I just can’t wait to get another shot at this.”
The ever-classy McIlroy was quick to apologize to NBC viewers for swearing. The moment got to him.
There’s something special about being a part of something that’s bigger than yourself. Rose Zhang wants a piece of that, and everything else that college life entails.
The USA Team celebrates after winning the 2021 Curtis Cup at Conwy Golf Club in North Wales, United Kingdom on Saturday, Aug. 28, 2021. (Oisin Keniry/USGA)
Michelle Wie West puts getting a degree from Stanford on the same level as winning the U.S. Women’s Open. Both were childhood dreams that she was determined to make happen. Wie West attended Stanford while playing on tour, of course, and called it the best decision she’s ever made.
“The normalcy of just going and living in a dorm and living on campus all four years,” she said, “having friends who didn’t play golf. I think that did so much for my personal growth.”
Zhang believes that will be the case for her, too. Her presence at Stanford sends a message to future world-beaters, and their parents, that extreme success in junior golf doesn’t have to result in a beeline to the tour, which can be a lonely and pressure-packed cauldron.
Troon will review opportunities to enhance the Club experience for members and associates and make recommendations to FSU.
TALLAHASSEE, Florida — Troon, the world’s largest golf management company, has been hired by Florida State to oversee operations at Seminole Legacy Golf Club beginning next month.
FSU elected not to extend its contract with ClubCorp.
The Dallas-based company has managed the course since it reopened in March 2020 after an $8 million renovation of its facilities by the Nicklaus Design Company.
The par-72, 7,684-yard course is owned by FSU and home to the Seminole men’s and women’s golf teams.
“Seminole Legacy is much more than just one of the premier university courses in the country — it is an important part of our community and the university at large,” FSU men’s golf coach and Director of Golf Trey Jones said in a statement released Friday by the university.
“Troon’s involvement will elevate the experience for both of our golf teams, our membership and our Seminole golf supporters.”
Pricing to remain the same
The new partnership with Troon, based in Phoenix, Arizona, will not result in any reductions in member services, events, activities or development plans, according to FSU.
The current membership structure and pricing will also remain in place. The course currently has 448 members and averages approximately 20,000 rounds annually, according to FSU.
The university also does not anticipate roles, responsibilities or reporting structures to initially change as a result of the partnership. Former Leon High golfer and FSU graduate Jaxon Hardy is the club’s General Manager.
Ross Obley photo
Troon will also review opportunities to enhance the Club experience for members and associates and make recommendations to FSU.
The agreement with Troon expires December, 31, 2023. Financial terms were not disclosed.
There was no termination fee linked to the ClubCorp contract, according to FSU.
“We are most appreciative of their leadership at the golf course the past two years,” FSU Vice President for Finance and Administration Kyle Clark said.
The Legacy Club is located in southwest Tallahassee adjacent to Innovation Park. It is the first Jack Nicklaus Legacy Course in North America — legacy courses are designed by Nicklaus and his son Jack II.
The renovation lasted 18 months and only the 18th hole is left from the course’s original routing.
South Carolina opened its season with a win at the ANNIKA Intercollegiate by seven shots.
The Women’s Golf Coaches Association (WGCA) has announced the results of the most recent WGCA Coaches Poll. This is the second poll of the 2021 fall season.
In Division I, South Carolina received five first-place votes to jump 10 spots to No. 1, while Duke received one first-place vote to remain at No. 2. Oklahoma State received two first-place votes to move up one spot to No. 3, followed by Wake Forest at No. 4. Stanford received nine first-place votes to round out the top-five. Stanford was the No. 1-ranked team in the previous poll. The Cardinal did receive nine first-place votes this week, the most of the five teams which received first-place votes.
Others Receiving Votes: Texas A&M (65); Oklahoma (41); North Carolina (40); BYU (32); Central Florida (30); Vanderbilt (28); Mississippi State (18); Kent State (17); Kentucky (14); Tulsa (10); San Jose State (7); Purdue (5); Michigan State (4); Sam Houston State (4); Campbell (2); Iowa State (1)
About the Women’s Golf Coaches Association
The Women’s Golf Coaches Association, founded in 1983, is a non-profit organization representing women’s collegiate golf coaches. The WGCA was formed to encourage the playing of college golf for women in correlation with a general objective of education and in accordance with the highest tradition of intercollegiate competition. Today, the WGCA represents over 650 coaches throughout the U.S. and is dedicated to educating, promoting and recognizing both its members and the student-athletes they represent.
