Aimee Neff’s first year as the head coach for the UNC women’s golf team will feature a postseason berth. Neff and the Tar Heels received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament Wednesday, and will be the No. 7 seed in the Ann Arbor regional. It’s Carolina’s first NCAA berth since 2019, and 27th since 1993.

The regional will be played from May 9 through May 11 on the campus of the University of Michigan. Carolina, one of 10 ACC teams invited to the NCAA Tournament, will be joined by 11 other teams in Ann Arbor, including top seed San Jose State, hosts Michigan and conference foes Virginia and Virginia Tech.

“We are certainly excited to be invited to play in the NCAA Tournament,” Neff said. “Competing in a regional is just the first step; we want to advance out of the regional to play in Arizona in the national championship.”

Neff, who played collegiately at Michigan State, recognized the advantage of competing on a familiar course.

“I have a level of comfort on that course I can pass on to our players,” she said.

The top four teams from the 12-team regional, as well as the two highest-finishing individuals from non-top four teams will advance to the NCAA Championship in Arizona, to be played from May 20 through May 25.

One of the players competing for Carolina in May will be Kayla Smith, who was named one of 15 All-ACC performers by the conference on Thursday. Smith, a junior from Burlington, N.C., ranked second on the team in stroke average and recorded six top-20 finishes in eight tournaments played.

“It’s a credit to Kayla’s hard work and season-long consistency to be honored in such an outstanding conference,” said Neff. “I couldn’t be prouder. She showed a lot of maturation on and off the course and continues to strive to get better.”

 

Featured image via UNC Athletic Communications/Andy Mead

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