Women's Golf Begins Spring Schedule In Mexico

Sunday, February 5

Guadalajara, Mexico (Guadalajara C.C.)

All Day

North Carolina

Collegiate Invitational at Guadalajara Country Club Day One

Photo by: Andy Mead

February 4, 2023 | Women's Golf

By: Steve Kirschner

Carolina women's golf opens its spring schedule Sunday and Monday, February 5-6, at the Collegiate Invitational at Guadalajara Country Club in Guadalajara, Jalisoc, Mexico.

The Tar Heels are competing for the first time since the Landfall Tradition in Wilmington, N.C., in late October.

The Collegiate Invitational is the first of five spring tournaments for the Tar Heels prior to the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship and NCAA regionals. Carolina is one of a dozen teams in the field, which includes five teams that concluded play in the fall ranked in the top 25 by Golfstat. Those include No. 8 Ole Miss, No. 10 Florida State, No. 12 Virginia, No. 13 Arizona and No. 24 Baylor.

The Tar Heels entered the winter break No. 39 in the country. Carolina competed five times in the fall, winning the Ivy Intercollegiate at the Baltusrol Golf Club in New Jersey and finishing third in both the Texas A&M "Mo"Morial and the Ruth's Chris Tar Heel Invitational.

The rest of the field in Mexico includes California, Georgia, Maryland, Michigan, NC State and Tennessee.

Carolina's lineup for its first spring event includes freshman Megan Streicher, senior Krista Junkkari, junior Crista Izuzquiza, senior Kayla Smith and sophomore Riley Quartermain.

Smith led Carolina in the fall with a stroke average of 71.54 and was a team-best 4 under par in four starts. Smith and Junkkari both won individual titles; Smith won at Texas A&M and Junkkari was co-champion at the Ivy Intercollegiate.

The 54-hole tournament, hosted by the University of Virginia, is split over two days, playing 27 holes on Sunday and Monday on the 6,333-yard course. The Cavaliers won the tournament in 2020, the only other year the event was contested.