Wake Forest Awarded 2024 Women’s Golf & 2026 Men’s Golf NCAA Regional Championships
10/14/2020 3:59:00 PM | General, Men's Golf, Women's Golf
Previously, Wake Forest has hosted the NCAA Championships for men’s golf in 1979 and 1986 at the Bermuda Run Country Club, and the NCAA Regionals for women’s golf in 2003 and 2006.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- The NCAA has awarded Wake Forest and Winston-Salem the 2024 Women's Golf & 2026 Men's Golf NCAA Regional Championships. These events will be played at Bermuda Run Country Club, which is located just west of Winston-Salem in Davie County.
"Wake Forest Athletics is thrilled to be able to bring these two NCAA Regionals home to the Winston-Salem area and the nationally-regarded Bermuda Run Club," Director of Athletics John Currie said. "I appreciate the efforts of our staff and the partnership with Bermuda Run's leadership in hosting these events, which provide both a potential 'home' advantage to our student-athletes and great exposure for the entire Triad community."
"It is very exciting to be at a course where Wake Forest won an NCAA championship as a team and Gary Hallberg won his NCAA title," said men's golf head coach Jerry Haas. "Bermuda Run is an exceptional golf course and I would like to thank them for agreeing to host as our teams will enjoy the test of golf."
"We are so excited for this opportunity to host the NCAA Regionals in 2024," said women's golf head coach Kim Lewellen. "Regionals are a pivotal time in the postseason and we know the Triad community and Bermuda Run will represent the NCAA and Wake Forest very well."
With three NCAA Championships (1974, 1975, 1986) and 18 ACC Championships, Wake Forest men's golf has a long history of success. The program has produced three players who have gone on to be enshrined in the World Golf Hall of Fame (Arnold Palmer, Curtis Strange and Lanny Wadkins), among the over 30 alumni to earn their PGA TOUR card. Wake Forest has also had three NCAA individual champions (Curtis Strange-1974; Jay Haas-1975; Gary Hallberg-1979), while Arnold Palmer was the stroke play medalist at the event in 1949 and 1950.
The Wake Forest women's golf program has had sustained success throughout its nearly 40-year existence. The Demon Deacons have won six ACC Championships, most recently in 2019, while also finishing as the NCAA runner-up that season and with the No. 1 ranking in the country following the cancellation of the 2020 campaign. In 2018, Jennifer Kupcho won the program's first NCAA individual title and became the first Demon Deacon golfer to win the Honda Award as the national player of the year. During Kupcho's senior season in 2019, she won the inaugural Augusta National Women's Amateur, becoming the first female champion at the historic club.
Bermuda Run, with course pro Mary Thomas, was once home to the Bing Crosby Pro-Am, which at the time was one of the most famous Pro-Am tournaments in the country, with the largest celebrity field.
NCAA Regional Format
Eighty-one teams and 45 individuals are selected to compete at one of six regional championships over the course of the three-day event, each featuring 13 or 14 teams and five or ten individuals at these select events.
From regional competition, 30 teams (top five from each regional) and six individuals (top individual from each regional) will advance to the national championships to be played at the NCAA Championships.
NCAA Hosting Information
This is the third time for this specific NCAA championship bid process, which created the largest host site announcement ever, spanning 86 championships across a four-year cycle. Previously, selection announcements varied by sport. This process now gives the NCAA and host sites more time to plan each championship experience.
Bidding for 86 of 90 NCAA championships began in August 2019 and more than 3,000 bid applications were ultimately submitted. Each sport committee, per division, selected the host sites it believed would provide the ultimate experience for the respective student-athletes, resulting in more than 450 total championship event sites being awarded. More than 54,000 student-athletes compete in NCAA championships each year. The four championships not included in the process due to preexisting site arrangements are: Division I baseball, Division I football, Division I softball and Division III women's ice hockey.
