No. 17 Alabama Women’s Golf Tees Off New Season at ANNIKA Intercollegiate

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The No. 17 Alabama women’s golf team will begin the 2022-23 season Monday morning at the ANNIKA Intercollegiate which will be played at the par 72, 6,410-yard Royal Golf Club in Lake Elmo, Minn. The 12-team tournament, which will take place Monday through Wednesday, features 10 teams ranked among the top 20 of the Women’s Golf Coaches Association (WGCA) Preseason Top-25.

It marks the second consecutive year the Crimson Tide will open its season at the event, and the fifth appearance for the Crimson Tide in the tournament, which began in 2014.

The 12-team tournament field includes defending champions, the South Carolina Gamecocks. The teams will compete in a five-count-four, stroke-play format, with tee times running 8-9:30 a.m. CT off No. 1 and 8:05-9:35 a.m. CT off No. 10.

The Lineup

• The Crimson Tide’s starting five for the season opener will include Benedetta Moresco, Isabella van der Biest, Kynadie Adams, Taylor Kehoe and Sarah Edwards
• Alabama’s lineup is headlined by Moresco, who earned All-American and All-SEC as a sophomore last season.
• Her campaign began by becoming the third golfer in program history to be named the SEC Scholar Athlete of the Year. In addition:

  • Moresco earned five top-10 finishes during her sophomore campaign, including her first career medalist honors at The Ally, setting the Alabama school record for lowest 54-hole total (197)
  • The junior was selected as the eighth-best women’s golfer in Golf Channel’s preseason poll for the upcoming season
  • Moresco was one of 25 players from around the nation to be named to the Preseason ANNIKA Award Watch List

• van der Biest is coming off a stellar freshman campaign, where she earned SEC All-Freshman Team honors
• Edwards returns to the Tide’s lineup after producing a stroke average of 75.57 respectively, during the 2021-22 season
• Adams and Kehoe, both highly ranked prospects, will each make their Crimson Tide debut

Tournament Preview

• It will mark the Crimson Tide’s fifth appearance at the ANNIKA Intercollegiate and its second straight year competing in the event

  • The Tide won the event to kick off the 2018-19 season, as then-No. 1 Alabama turned in a 11-under-par final round for a 28-under-par tournament total

• 2022 National runner-up Oregon headlines the field, which includes 10 other teams ranked in the top-20 of the WCGA Preseason…