No. 2 Wake Forest Opens Season at ANNIKA Intercollegiate

Monday, September 13

Royal Golf Club/Lake Elmo, Minn.

All Day

Wake Forest University

Annika Intercollegiate

Photo by: Todd Drexler/Tim Cowie Photography

No. 2 Wake Forest Opens Season at ANNIKA Intercollegiate

9/12/2021 3:07:00 PM | Women's Golf

Live Scoring

Every team competing at the ANNIKA is ranked inside the Golf Channel preseason top 30, apart from host school Minnesota, making this one of the most competitive fields of any event this season.

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - The Wake Forest women's golf team opens their 2021-22 season this week at the prestigious ANNIKA Intercollegiate as the defending champions from 2019 of both the team and individual titles.

Wake Forest won the ANNIKA Intercollegiate in 2019 by 14 strokes and Rachel Kuehn took home the individual title shooting an impressive -13, winning by five strokes in her collegiate debut. The rising junior is coming off a Team USA win at the 2021 Curtis Cup where she competed against teammate Lauren Walsh of Team GBI.

The Demon Deacons start the season ranked No. 2 in the country in the Golf Channel preseason poll and No. 3 in the Women's Golf Coaches Association (WGCA) preseason poll after ending their 2021 season as one of the top 15 teams in the nation at the NCAA Championships. Between the men's program and the women's program, the Demon Deacons are one of just two schools to have both teams finish inside of the top 15 in the last three NCAA Championships.

The Wake Forest lineup is highlighted by three returners in Rachel Kuehn, Lauren Walsh and Mimi Rhodes. All three players competed in every event for the Deacs during the 2020-21 season. Kuehn finished last season with one individual title and a third-place individual finish at the 2021 ACC Championships and Walsh finished inside the top 20 in every regular season appearance.

Freshman Carolina Chacarra and graduate transfer Virunpat Olankitkunchai will also be in the lineup for Wake Forest. Olankitkunchai came to Wake Forest from Maryland, where she competed in every single event during her four-year career for the Terrapins and was a two-time All-Big Ten First Team selection. Chacarra came to Wake Forest from Madrid, Spain. Chacarra is currently No. 17 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings (WAGR). Walsh is the only Deac ahead of her in the rankings, coming in at the 10th best female amateur in the world. Kuehn joins Walsh and Chacarra inside the top 25 at No. 22.

Wake Forest lineup (tee time off hole 1)

Participating Teams (Golf Channel preseason ranking)
Wake Forest (2)
Alabama (21)
Arizona (6)
Arizona State (11)
Duke (4)
LSU (5)
Minnesota - host
Ole Miss (3)
South Carolina (15)
Texas (16)
UCLA (12)
USC (10)

Course Information

Royal Golf Club - Lake Elmo, Minnesota
Par 72 - 6,410 yards
The course features five tee boxes, bent-grass fairways and generous landing areas, allowing golfers of all experience levels to test their skills. The first nine holes, known as the Queen's Nine, were designed by Annika Sörenstam, and the last nine, known as the King's Nine, were designed by Wake Forest legend Arnold Palmer.

Format
The event will be played over three days, with one round of 18-hole stroke play each day, with tee times beginning at 9 a.m. Eastern Time every day. Live scoring is available via GolfStat and results will be posted on GoDeacs.com at the conclusion of each round.