Two National Championships to be Decided Over a Three-Day Span – Individual (May 22) and Team (May 24)
Field of 24 Teams and 12 Individuals Headlined by Top-Ranked Stanford University, 2015 National Champions and 2016 NCAA Runners-Up
Exemptions to LPGA Tour Events and Invitations to the East Lake Cup Determined at NCAA Golf Championships
Live Scoring and Information: College Central
ORLANDO, Fla., May 18, 2017 – Golf Channel will shine a spotlight on women’s college golf and the LPGA Tour’s future stars at the 2017 NCAA Division I Women’s Golf Championships, taking place Monday-Wednesday, May 22-24. With nearly 30 hours of live tournament and news coverage on-site from Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, Ill., Golf Channel’s comprehensive coverage will be the most number of live hours of the NCAA Women’s Golf Championships in history.
Golf Channel’s live tournament coverage of the women’s championships begins on Monday, May 22 to crown the individual national champion, which also will track the teams attempting to qualify for the eight-team match play championship. Golf Channel’s coverage on Tuesday and Wednesday, May 23-24 will include all three rounds of the team match play, ultimately crowning a team national champion. In addition, Golf Central will surround live tournament coverage with pre-and post-event news coverage produced on location, as well as daily news updates on Morning Drive and online via Golf Channel Digital. News and tournament coverage also will be live streamed on Golf Channel Digital.
Golf Channel NCAA Women’s Golf Championships Coverage (all times ET)
| Monday, May 22 | Individual National Championship | 4-8 p.m. (Live) |
| Tuesday, May 23 | Quarterfinals, Team Match Play | 11 a.m.-1:30 p.m. (Live) |
| Tuesday, May 23 | Semifinals, Team Match Play | 4-8 p.m. (Live) |
| Wednesday, May 24 | Team Match Play National Championship | 4-8 p.m. (Live) |
Format: The championship format consists of 24 teams and 12 individuals (not on those teams competing) in 54 holes of stroke play, beginning Friday, May 19. Following Sunday’s third round, the top-15 teams along with nine individuals not on an advancing team will compete on Monday, May 22 to crown the individual national champion. The top eight teams from the 72-hole stroke play championship will advance to the team match play championship on Tuesday and Wednesday, May 23 and 24.
Teams (24): Alabama, Arizona State, Baylor, California, Clemson, Duke, Florida, Florida State, Furman, Kent State, Miami (Fla.), Michigan, Michigan State, North Carolina, Northwestern, Ohio State, Oregon, Pepperdine, Purdue, South Carolina, Southern California, Stanford, Texas, Texas Tech.
Individuals (12): Martina Edelberg (Cal State Fullerton); Bianca Pagdanganan (Gonzaga); Nadine White (Campbell); Jennifer Kupcho (Wake Forest); Laura Fuenfstueck (College of Charleston); Maya Walton (Princeton); Cara Gorlei (Arkansas); Camila Serrano (Florida International Univ.); Maddie Szeryk (Texas A&M); Julienne Soo (Oklahoma); Alex White (Brigham Young); Susie Cavanagh (Oregon State).
Marathon Classic Offers Two Exemptions From 2017 NCAA Women’s Golf Championships: The individual champion from the 2017 NCAA Women’s Golf Championships and a representative from the team national champions once again will receive exemptions to compete in the 2017 Marathon Classic presented by Owens Corning and O-I taking place July 17-23.
Semifinal Teams in Match Play to Receive Invitations to Compete in East Lake Cup presented by Hewlett Packard Enterprise: The East Lake Cup, taking place in late October at historic East Lake Golf Club will feature the top-performing teams from the 2017 NCAA Men’s and Women’s Golf Championships. Invitations for the field will be extended to the semifinalists of the team match play tournaments at both the 2017 NCAA Men’s and Women’s Golf Championships. Modeled after the NCAA Golf Championships, the format for the East Lake Cup will consist of an opening round of stroke play to crown an individual male and female champion and determine seeding for the following two days of match play competition. Golf Channel will air live coverage of the East Lake Cup Monday-Wednesday, Oct. 30-Nov. 1.
Women’s Golf Championships On-Air Team: Golf Channel’s on-air team for the NCAA Women’s Golf Championships will feature major champion Karen Stupples as lead analyst and Bob Papa as play-by-play host. Curt Byrum will serve as hole announcer, with Billy Ray Brown, Kay Cockerill and Gail Graham reporting from the course. Golf Channel’s college insider Steve Burkowski will join the broadcast booth as co-analyst. Lisa Cornwell will host Golf Central, joined by Paige Mackenzie, Amanda Blumenherst, Chantel McCabe and GolfChannel.com senior writer Ryan Lavner.
College Central – Golf Channel Digital Coverage: Golf Channel will provide comprehensive coverage via College Central, Golf Channel Digital’s home for college golf. Led by Jay Coffin, Lavner and Burkowski, College Central will be the source for all things college golf, including tournament results and scores, features and columns, video highlights and breaking news.
Golf Channel also will deliver comprehensive social media coverage via the network’s official social media platforms on Twitter, Facebook and Snapchat. Social media host Alexandra O’Laughlin will make her Golf Channel debut at the NCAA Women’s and Men’s Golf Championships. O’Laughlin, a former college golfer with Lewis University in suburban Chicago, will contribute to Golf Channel’s digital and social media coverage for both championships.
ANNIKA Award Winner Announced on Golf Central Wednesday, June 7: Golf Channel will announce the winner of one of the most prestigious awards in college golf –the ANNIKA Award Presented by 3M – following the conclusion of the NCAA Women’s Golf Championships, on a live edition of Golf Central, Wednesday, June 7 at 6 p.m. ET. The show will include profiles on the top candidates for both awards and live interviews with the winner, who also will receive an exemption to compete in the 2017 Evian Championship in September, the final major on the LPGA Tour in 2017. The ANNIKA Award Presented by 3M honors the nation’s most outstanding female Division I collegiate golfer as selected by her peers, coaches and the golf media. The 2016 winner of the ANNIKA Award was UCLA junior Bronte Law, who won three times and recorded eight top-10 finished in 10 starts during her 2015-16 NCAA season.
ABOUT THE NCAA
The NCAA is a diverse association of more than 1,100 member colleges and universities that prioritize academics, well-being and fairness to create greater opportunities for nearly a half a million student-athletes each year. The NCAA provides a pathway to higher education and beyond for student-athletes pursuing academic goals and competing in NCAA sports. More than 54,000 student-athletes experience the pinnacle of intercollegiate athletics by competing in NCAA championships each year. Visit www.ncaa.org and www.ncaa.com for more details about the Association and the corporate partnerships that support the NCAA and its student-athletes.
ABOUT GOLF CHANNEL
Golf Channel is a multimedia, golf entertainment and services company based in Orlando, Fla. Serving the most-affluent audience in all of television, Golf Channel – co-founded by Arnold Palmer in 1995 and now part of NBC Sports Group – is available to nearly 500 million viewers in 78 countries and nine languages around the world. Golf Channel features more live golf coverage than all other networks combined, including tournament action from the PGA TOUR, LPGA Tour, The Open, Olympics, and Ryder Cup, as well as high-quality news, instruction and original programming. Delivering unmatched coverage of the world of golf, fans are able to enjoy 24/7 live streaming of Golf Channel content through Golf Channel Digital and the NBC Sports App, powered by Playmaker Media. In addition, Golf Channel connects the world to golf through a wide array of digital and lifestyle services including Golf Channel Mobile, a comprehensive app covering golf’s latest headlines, scores and analysis; GolfNow, the world’s largest online tee time booking platform and golf course technology partner, which includes the GolfNow Mobile App, featuring on-course GPS tracking, in-round scoring and game tracking; GolfAdvisor.com, the world’s largest golf course ratings and review resource for golfers, by golfers; a North American network of Golf Channel Academy instructional facilities; and Golf Channel Am Tour, the world’s largest amateur golf tour.
-NBC Sports Group-