SILVIS, Ill. - Coming off a runner-up finish in 2022, the OCU women's golf team will begin its quest for a 9th NAIA national championship on Tuesday at TPC Deer Run.
The fourth-ranked Stars will tee off in 10-minute increments between 7:20 a.m. and 8 a.m. (CST) for Tuesday's NAIA national championship first round. Tee times switch to the afternoon for round two and the Stars will hold slots from 12:20 p.m. until 1 p.m. OCU finished five strokes behind British Columbia in the 2022 championship. UBC enters this year's tournament as the top-ranked team in the final coaches' poll. Dalton State (Ga.) and Keiser (Fla.) hold the number two and three spots, respectively.
"We're looking forward to the next four days here at TPC Deere Run for nationals," said
Josh Gorzney, head women's golf coach, who is in his first year at the helm of the program. "We've been prepping every day since I've been here with qualifying, workouts, tournaments, and strategy to get to this point. I 100% believe we can contend to win, and can't wait to get started tomorrow and represent OCU."
The Stars' roster for the tournament will feature Maddi Kamas, Natalie Gough, MaKayla Tyrrell, Paige Wood, Jamie Welsh and Logan Allen. OCU has won eight NAIA national championships - 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2013, 2014 and 2017.
After Wednesday's second round, the top 17 team scores will move forward to play the final 36 holes this week. The 156-player field features 30 teams and seven individual qualifiers.
Each of OCU's rounds can be tracked at golfstat.com by clicking the NAIA Women's Championship.