Summer is over, the calendar has turned to September and college is back in session. That means college golf is back.
With that means the chase to win an NCAA Championship is on. This year, the championships will be held at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, California, after being at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona, the past three years.
Wake Forest has one of the most experienced teams in the country last year, and the Demon Deacons used that to go on a run and win the first title in school history. This year, however, there’s a new team on top of the preseason rankings.
Here’s a look at Golfweek’s 2023-24 men’s college golf preseason rankings.
1. LSU
LSU enters the season as the top-ranked team in the country thanks to its experience and depth. World No. 1 amateur Ingrid Lindblad, a four-time All-American who has won 11 times in her career, along with U.S. Women’s Amateur runner-up Latanna Stone, will anchor the lineup. Add in returners Aine Donegan, who made a memorable run at the U.S. Women’s Open at Pebble Beach, and Carla Tejedo, LSU’s experience and depth is similar to what Wake Forest had last season en route to the championship.
2. Stanford
Surprise, surprise. Stanford remains one of the top programs in the country, even with the departure of Rose Zhang. A big reason why is Rachel Heck, the 2021 NCAA individual champion and ANNIKA Award winner who is finally healthy and made a run to the semifinals at the U.S. Women’s Amateur. Add in Magha Ganne, Sadie Englemann, Kelly Xu and Brooke Seay, along with incoming freshman Paula Martin Sampedro, the Cardinal’s lineup is deep, experienced and well positioned for another year at the top.
3. Ole Miss
Although Chiara Tamburlini left, the Rebels got two top transfers in Caitlyn Macnab from TCU and Justine Fournand from South Carolina. Andrea Lignell, who won twice and had three more top-three finishes, also returns, along with the other starters from last season’s team. The added depth makes Ole Miss as strong as any other team in the country at the top of the lineup.
4. Wake Forest
The defending national champions will have to replace two key pieces of the lineup with Emilia Migliaccio and Luaren Walsh finishing their college careers on top. However, the Demon Deacons’ top player, four-time All-American Rachel Kuehn, returned for her COVID year and will lead a lineup that also features returners Mimi Rhodes and Carolina Chacarra.
5. Florida State
The duo of Charlotte Heath and Lottie Woad are the highlights of Florida State’s lineup this season. The pair of All-Americans are a formidable 1-2 punch that can match anyone in the country. The Seminoles will also be bolstered with transfer Mirabel Ting, who had a stellar freshman season at Augusta. Alice Hodge and Kaylah Williams also return, giving the Seminoles one of the strongest lineups in the country.
6. USC
USC made a strong run into the NCAA Championship last year, and that came on the heels of winning the Pac-12 Championship. Amari Avery is the featured star, and for good reason. She’s expected back, though she is going through LPGA Q-school, along with Catherine Park and Brianna Navarrosa, among others. Incoming freshman Bailey Shoemaker is also one to watch, as she could come in and become a stalwart in the lineup.
7. Auburn
Auburn fell short of reaching the NCAA Championship last season, but that doesn’t mean the Tigers had a poor summer. Graduate student Megan Schofill won the 2023 U.S. Women’s Amateur at Bel-Air Country Club in Los Angeles, the highlight win of her career. That momentum should be big for Schofill and Auburn, which also returns Anna Foster and Casey Weidenfeld, among others.
8. South Carolina
The Gamecocks finally reached match play at the NCAA Championship last year, but there are big gaps to fill in the lineup, even with the return of two-time first-team All-American Hannah Darling. Mathilde Claisse graduated, and as mentioned, Fournand transferred to Ole Miss. However, Louise Rydqvist returns and will need to step up into a bigger role, along with incoming freshman Maylis Lamoure.
9. Texas
The Longhorns finished second in stroke play at the NCAA Championship last spring, ultimately falling in the quarterfinals of match play. Incoming freshman Lauren Kim, who won the Canadian Women’s Amateur this summer as well as the quarterfinals of the U.S. Girls’ Junior, is likely to make her way into the lineup, joining senior Bentley Cotton, junior Bohyun Park and sophomores Angela Heo and Cindy Hsu.
10. Oregon
Last season, the Ducks missed out on making the NCAA Championship only a year removed from finishing runner-up. And this year, Oregon will have a much different lineup than the past couple seasons, but a couple of freshmen may lead the way. First, U.S. Girls’ Junior champion Kiara Romero will likely be one of the nation’s top players from day one. In addition, Ting-Hsuan Huang is another freshman who could become a star.
Nos. 11-20
11. Texas A&M
12. Arizona State
13. Baylor
14. San Jose State
15. Pepperdine
16. Mississippi State
17. Arizona
18. Georgia
19. Florida
20. Duke
Nos. 21-30
21. Vanderbilt
22. Northwestern
23. Kentucky
24. Ohio State
25. Iowa State
26. Virginia
27. Oklahoma State
28. Clemson
29. UCLA
30. Michigan
