Women's Golf One of 10 Teams at The Blessings

Carolina women's golf returns to competition for the second time this season under first-year head coach Aimee Neff at the Blessings Collegiate Invitational presented by Tyson Foods.

The unique format features men's and women's teams from 10 programs playing two tournaments on the same course over the same three days at the Blessings Golf Club in Johnson, Ark., site of the 2019 NCAA Men's and Women's Championships.

The Tar Heel men's and women's teams are joined by host school Arkansas and Arizona, Houston, Illinois, Louisville, Ole Miss, Tennessee, Texas Tech and UCLA.

The Golf Channel will broadcast all three days with pre-round coverage at 3:30 p.m. and live action from 4-7 p.m.

UNC is ranked No. 22 in the country by Golfweek, which ranks junior Krista Junkkari No. 5 in the nation and junior Kayla Smith No. 76.

"This is an incredible opportunity for our program," says Neff. "To have this tournament be on the Golf Channel each day allows people around the world to see how talented college golf is and we are hungry to show what Carolina can do. We look forward to this unique format and competing alongside our men's team, too."

Carolina tied for fifth place at 3-under 861 at the Cougar Classic in Charleston, S.C., in mid-September.

Junkkari set UNC records for 18 holes (65 in the first round) and 36 holes (65-67–132 in the first two rounds) and tied school records for 54 holes (12-under 204). The Elimäki, Finland native finished second, her best finish as a Tar Heel.

Two other Tar Heels shot personal bests with rounds in the 60s. Sophomore Natalia Aseguinolaza had a second-round 68 and Smith carded a bogey-free 67 in the final round.

Junkkari, Smith and Aseguinolaza are joined in the lineup in Arkansas by sophomore Crista Izuzquiza and freshman Stephany Kim, who is making her collegiate debut.

"Our players have worked really hard the last two weeks to prepare for the Blessings," says Neff. "I have been really impressed with their extra effort getting more reps, doing extra work on their chipping and putting. I'm looking forward to seeing how their extra work will pay off this week."

Eight of the 10 teams competing in the Blessings Invitational are ranked by Golfweek in the top 50, including No. 5 Arkansas, No. 15 Arizona, No. 22 UNC, No. 24 Illinois and No. 26 Texas Tech.

The Blessings is one of three October starts for the Tar Heels. UNC hosts the Ruth's Chris Tar Heel Intercollegiate at UNC Finley Golf Course October 15-17 and competes at the Landfall Tradition in Wilmington October 29-31.

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Players Mentioned

Natalia Aseguinolaza

Crista Izuzquiza

Krista Junkkari

Stephany Kim

Kayla Smith

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