ACC Women's Golf Championship Begins Thursday

The Tar Heels begin play in the 2021 Atlantic Coast Conference Championship on Thursday, April 15. For the second tournament in a row and 10th time in the last 12 championships, the ACC will crown its champion at the Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro.

Carolina has won the ACC title in 1992 under Dot Gunnells and 2011 under Jan Mann, who is in her 12th season as head coach of the Tar Heels.

The Tar Heels are the ninth seed and will tee off with No. 7 Miami and No. 8 Louisville beginning on the first hole Thursday at 8:50 a.m. Spectators are welcome to attend; masks are required to be worn while watching the competition.

"The Donald Ross designed course at Sedgefield Country Club is a demanding golf course with small undulating greens and rolling fairways," says Mann. "Our practice has been primarily working on the short game with emphasis on breaking putts, chipping and pitching. The team has consistently been solid with their ball striking so if their short game is sound, they will do well."

The Tar Heels will be playing their first stroke play tournament in nearly a month since an eighth-place finish in Charleston, S.C., on March 16 at the Briar's Creek Invitational. Sophomore Krista Junkkari tied for 13th at Briar's Creek after a 2-under-par final-round 70.

The Tar Heels have played in a pair of match play events since competing at Briar's Creek. They defeated NC State and lost to Wake Forest in the Big Four Challenge in Raleigh and beat the Wolfpack and narrowly lost, 3-2, to both Virginia Tech and Louisville at the Cavalier Match Play in Charlottesville, Va.

Carolina's lineup for the ACC Championship includes freshman Nicole Adam, sophomore Kayla Smith, junior Jennifer Zhou, freshman Natalia Aseguinolaza and freshman Crista Izuzquiza.

The Tar Heels will be starting three freshmen, a sophomore and a junior. Zhou is the only Tar Heel in the lineup with previous ACC Tournament experience. She tied for eighth in 2019 with a 1-over 217 (70-73-74). The junior from Kunming, China, leads Carolina in stroke average this season at 74.92.

Adam is second in stroke average at 75.00 and has shot both of Carolina's low rounds this season, an opening-round 69 at the Gamecock Intercollegiate and a third-round 69 at Briar's Creek.

This year's ACC Championship marks the debut of a new format to determine the team champion. All teams will play 54 holes of stroke play (36 on Thursday and 18 on Friday) with four teams advancing to match play, which begins with the semifinals at 9 a.m. on Saturday. The championship match is set for 9 a.m. on Sunday, April 18.

The ACC individual champion will be determined through the three rounds of stroke play.

Players Mentioned

Nicole Adam

Natalia Aseguinolaza

Crista Izuzquiza

Krista Junkkari

Kayla Smith

Jennifer Zhou

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