University of North Carolina Athletics
Carolina Women's Golf Team Selected For NCAA East Regional
April 25, 2011 | Women's Golf
April 25, 2011
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - The University of North Carolina women's golf team, this year's Atlantic Coast Conference Champion, was one of 72 teams to receive a bid to participate in the NCAA Regionals. The Tar Heels will be playing in the East Regional May 5-7. The 54-hole event will be played at LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Fla. In addition to the 72 teams, 18 individuals received a bid to play in each regional (East, Central and West). The top eight teams and top two individuals not on those eight teams will advance on to the NCAA Championships to be played May 18-21 at the Traditions Golf Club in College Station, Texas.
The team and I are excited to be invited to participate in the NCAA Regionals," says Tar Heel head coach Jan Mann. "We look forward to the competition and hope to carry the momentum of the ACC Championships into the event."
Five ACC teams received bids to extend their seasons. In addition to Carolina (7 seed), Florida State (10 seed) will also be playing in the East Regional. Two ACC teams, Duke (2 seed) and Wake Forest (5 seed), will be playing in the Central Regional at Warren Golf Course in Notre Dame, Ind. and Virginia (2 seed) will play in the West Regional at Washington National Golf Club in Auburn, Wash. Two ACC players received individual bids - Miami's Maria Ronderos will play in the East Regional and Jessica Hollandsworth of Maryland will play in the West Regional.
Carolina is ranked 15th in the Golfweek/Sagarin Rankings and 22nd in Golfstat's Rankings and the Golf World/NGCO Coaches' Poll. The Tar Heels have captured two titles this year and carded six top-10 finishes. In addition to winning the ACC Championships, the Tar Heels won the Cougar Classic, the first event of the fall campaign. They were the runners up at The Landfall Tradition, finished third at the Bryan National Collegiate, placed fifth at the Tar Heel Invitational and ninth at the LSU Golf Classic.
This marks Carolina's 18th appearance in the NCAA Regionals. Since the regional format was instituted in women's golf in 1993, the Tar Heels have received a bid in 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998. 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011. All of these appearances were in the East Regional except 2008 (West).
The complete list of teams participating at the East Regional are as follows (by seed): Alabama, Purdue, California, Arizona State, Auburn, Michigan State, North Carolina, Vanderbilt, Florida, Florida State, Colorado, TCU, Louisville, Mississippi, Texas Tech, Florida International, Coastal Carolina, Augusta State, Yale, Kentucky, Stetson, UNC Wilmington, Fairleigh Dickinson and Alabama State. The individual participants in the East are Shena Yang of South Florida, Charlotte Lorentzen of Georgia State, Stefanie Kenoyer of Furman, Kelly Shon of Princeton, Maria Ronderos of Miami and Leigh Whittaker of College of Charleston.
![Images from the first round of the 2026 Gators Invitational on Friday, March 6, 2026 at Mark Bostick Golf Course at the University of Florida in Gainesville, FL. [Photo by Matt Pendleton Photography for North Carolina Tar Heels Athletics]](https://images.sidearmdev.com/resize?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdxbhsrqyrr690.cloudfront.net%2Fsidearm.nextgen.sites%2Func.sidearmsports.com%2Fimages%2F2026%2F3%2F7%2F260306-NCAAWGOLF-UNC-GatorsInvitational-0828-MattPendleton_copy.jpg&height=340&type=webp)
