University of North Carolina Athletics
Photo by: Andy Mead
Women's Golf Debuts Monday in Charleston
September 12, 2021 | Women's Golf
The Carolina women's golf team enters a new era under first-year head coach Aimee Neff when the Tar Heels travel to the Low Country September 13-14 to play 54 holes in the Cougar Classic.
UNC is one of 17 teams in the field at the Yeamans Hall Golf Club in Charleston, S.C.
The College of Charleston is the host, joining Carolina and Arkansas, Baylor, Charleston, Clemson, Florida, Furman, Georgia, Maryland, Miami, Michigan State, NC State, Penn State, Tennessee, UCF, Vanderbilt and Wisconsin.
Neff was an assistant coach at UNC in 2017-18 and was hired as the seventh head coach in Tar Heel history, following Jan Mann, who retired in the spring after 12 seasons at the helm. Neff was the head coach the past three seasons at Florida Atlantic.
Joining Neff is assistant coach Emily Loftin, who came to Chapel Hill after eight seasons as the head coach at Fresno State.
"We're excited to kick off our season against a talented field on a challenging course in Charleston," says Neff, who played collegiately at Michigan State. "We have a young team, not just by class, but more importantly by experience in college golf, so Monday is when we start learning how we operate in competition. We will need to be patient, but we are excited to watch our team develop together over the season."
Neff and Loftin inherit a young roster which will commence play on Monday with a five-player lineup that has only 28 collegiate tournaments under their belts.
Carolina's opening-day quintet features three juniors and two sophomores. The juniors include Aleks Golde of Atlanta, Krista Junkkari from Finland and Kayla Smith of Burlington, N.C.
Sophomores Natalia Aseguinolaza and Crista Izuzquia, are from Spain.
Golde did not play last season and has played in one collegiate event, Junkkari has competed in 10 tournaments in two seasons, Smith has made nine career starts and Aseguinolaza and Izuzquiza played five and three tournaments, respectively, a year ago as freshmen.
Junkkari is the only Tar Heel with previous experience in the Cougar Classic. She made her collegiate debut there two years ago, tying for 12th with a 3-under 213 after shooting 70-71-72.
UNC is one of 17 teams in the field at the Yeamans Hall Golf Club in Charleston, S.C.
The College of Charleston is the host, joining Carolina and Arkansas, Baylor, Charleston, Clemson, Florida, Furman, Georgia, Maryland, Miami, Michigan State, NC State, Penn State, Tennessee, UCF, Vanderbilt and Wisconsin.
Neff was an assistant coach at UNC in 2017-18 and was hired as the seventh head coach in Tar Heel history, following Jan Mann, who retired in the spring after 12 seasons at the helm. Neff was the head coach the past three seasons at Florida Atlantic.
Joining Neff is assistant coach Emily Loftin, who came to Chapel Hill after eight seasons as the head coach at Fresno State.
"We're excited to kick off our season against a talented field on a challenging course in Charleston," says Neff, who played collegiately at Michigan State. "We have a young team, not just by class, but more importantly by experience in college golf, so Monday is when we start learning how we operate in competition. We will need to be patient, but we are excited to watch our team develop together over the season."
Neff and Loftin inherit a young roster which will commence play on Monday with a five-player lineup that has only 28 collegiate tournaments under their belts.
Carolina's opening-day quintet features three juniors and two sophomores. The juniors include Aleks Golde of Atlanta, Krista Junkkari from Finland and Kayla Smith of Burlington, N.C.
Sophomores Natalia Aseguinolaza and Crista Izuzquia, are from Spain.
Golde did not play last season and has played in one collegiate event, Junkkari has competed in 10 tournaments in two seasons, Smith has made nine career starts and Aseguinolaza and Izuzquiza played five and three tournaments, respectively, a year ago as freshmen.
Junkkari is the only Tar Heel with previous experience in the Cougar Classic. She made her collegiate debut there two years ago, tying for 12th with a 3-under 213 after shooting 70-71-72.
Players Mentioned
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/ Women's Golf
/ Women's Golf
/ Women's Golf
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