GRAYHAWK TO PEBBLE BEACH: NCAA DIVISION I WOMEN’S CHAMP GOING TO U.S. WOMEN’S OPEN

by David Schefter USGA Staff Writer

The expansion from 24 to 30 teams wasn’t the only major news regarding the 2023 NCAA Division I Women’s Championship scheduled for May 19-24 at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz.

Not long after that major announcement provided encouragement to women’s college coaches from UCLA to Duke came news out of USGA headquarters in Liberty Corner, N.J., that the individual champion of the 72-hole, stroke-play competition will receive an exemption into the U.S. Women’s Open. This year’s championship will be contested July 6-9 at Pebble Beach (Calif.) Golf Links. This coincided with the USGA also awarding the men’s Division I individual champion a spot in the U.S. Open at The Los Angeles Country Club.

For more than a decade, the individual Division

I champions were given a spot in the U.S. Amateur and U.S. Women’s Amateur Championships. But this news raised the ante.

Given the field strength for the NCAA Championships, the USGA felt the time was right to add this exemption to the winners, provided they remain amateurs.

“The USGA is pleased to offer these exemptions for both the U.S. Open and U.S. Women’s Open,” said USGA Chief Championships Officer John Bodenhamer. “These categories provide another avenue for ensuring the presence of those players who are playing their best leading into both national championships.”

Stanford sophomore and 2022 McCormack Medal winner Rose Zhang, 2022 British Women’s Amateur champion and University of Central Florida sophomore Jess Baker and 2022 U.S. Women’s Amateur runner-up and Michigan junior Monet Chun are the only three active college players already in the U.S. Women’s Open field.

More are likely to get in via 36-hole qualifying. Half of the qualifiers are scheduled after May 24, providing one last chance to play the first women’s major championship ever conducted at Pebble Beach.

But the list of potential NCAA titlists starts with Louisiana State senior All-American Ingrid Lindblad, of Sweden, who established an 18-hole amateur scoring record last June at Pine Needles with her 6-under-par 65 in the opening round. Lindblad, last year’s low amateur and current No. 2 on the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking®, tied for 11th, coming one stroke short of earning a full exemption into the 2023 field. The top 10 scorers and ties are exempt into the following year’s championship.

Other top collegians who are in the top 15 of the WAGR but not yet in the U.S. Women’s Open field include University of Southern California sophomore

Amari Avery, University of South Carolina sophomore

Hannah Darling and Wake Forest fourth-year junior

Rachel Kuehn, whose mother, Brenda, has competed in nine U.S. Women’s Opens. Brenda played in her final Women’s Open in 2001 at Pine Needles, just a few weeks before delivering Rachel.

Others to watch include Wake Forest super senior Emilia Migliaccio, LSU senior Latanna Stone, Kentucky senior and 2021 U.S. Women’s Amateur winner Jensen Castle, Georgia senior Jenny Bae and Ohio State fourth-year junior Caley McGinty.

“I think it’s really, really cool,” 2021 NCAA champion Rachel Heck of Stanford told Golfweek. “Especially with how big collegiate golf is getting now that the NCAA Championship is televised [by Golf Channel].

“The winner can become a fan favorite.”

With the final round of stroke play broadcast live by Golf Channel, golf fans will now have another reason to watch these top players’ pursuit of an individual national title.