The UNC men’s and women’s golf teams each competed at the St Andrews Links Collegiate tournament in Scotland this week. Both sets of Tar Heels competed against Notre Dame, Vanderbilt and Georgetown in the four-team event. The women’s team finished first and the men’s team finished second after two days of stroke play to qualify for the championship match, played on St Andrews’ famed Old Course. The women’s team won their championship match against the Commodores 4-2, while the men fell 1-1-4.

UNC’s Kayla Smith won the individual title after the two-round stroke play portion of the event, finishing as the only player under par at two-under. It’s the second career individual title for Smith, a fifth-year senior from Burlington. Teammates Ing Iadpluem and Crista Izuzquiza joined Smith in the leaderboard’s Top 5.

Smith continued to shine in the championship match, defeating her Commodore opponent by two strokes. Iadpluem won hers by an eye-popping 15-stroke margin, and Reagan Southerland and Vilde Marie Nystrom also won their matches to secure the title for Carolina. It’s the team’s first tournament win since October 2023. The women’s golf team’s fall season is done, and they will next compete in February.

On the men’s side, the Tar Heels finished 18-under par after two rounds of stroke play, five strokes behind first-place Vanderbilt. Peter Fountain led UNC at five-under par, with Kenan Poole not far behind at four-under. Maxwell Ford and Dylan Menante also featured in the Top 10. Stroke play went the way of the Commodores the next day, with Ford being the only Tar Heel to win his match. Menante tied with his opponent, and Vanderbilt won the other four, though two were by just one stroke. The men’s team will play one more tournament in the fall season: the East Lake Cup in Atlanta, which starts on October 30.


Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees, and you can directly support our efforts in local journalism here. Want more of what you see on Chapelboro? Let us bring free local news and community information to you by signing up for our biweekly newsletter.