INDIANAPOLIS — The University of North Georgia (UNG) has been selected as the host of the 2022 NCAA Division II Women's Golf Championships to be held at Gainesville's Chattahoochee Golf Club May 10-14, 2022, in conjunction with the Greater Gainesville Sports Alliance.
"UNG athletics teams and our student-athletes have experienced amazing success over the past several years, and we are excited to have the opportunity to host this important championship event in our community," President Bonita Jacobs said.
The 2022 championship will mark the first time that an NCAA Division II women's golf champion has been crowned in the Peach State. In 1993 and 2013, the University of Georgia was the host site for the Division I women's golf championship.
In the past five years, UNG has hosted 12 NCAA regional championships across six different sports. Last year, UNG was the only Division II school selected to host four championships (women's basketball, men's tennis, women's tennis, softball) under the NCAA's pre-determined bidding process.
Hall County and the City of Gainesville will now be home to its third NCAA championship event, joining the 2018 NCAA Division II Cross Country Southeast Regional and the 2026 NCAA Rowing National Championship that was announced in October 2020.
UNG hosted the Cross Country Southeast Regional field for the first time in 2018, marking the first time UNG was awarded championship hosting rights through the NCAA's open bid process (non-seeded event) and the first time that a NCAA championship event took place in Hall County. In addition, UNG, Hall County and Gainesville are scheduled to host the 2023 NCAA Division II Cross Country Southeast Regional at UNG's Gainesville Campus.
In spring of 2026, Lake Lanier Olympic Park (LLOP) will play host to the NCAA Divisions I, II and III Women's Rowing Championships. The City of Gainesville, UNG and Lake Lanier Rowing Club joined the Lake Lanier Olympic Park Foundation in its bid to host the 2026 NCAA Women's Rowing Championships at Lake Lanier, formally submitted in February 2020.
"When the opportunity to help the NCAA secure a home for this championship presented itself, we enthusiastically jumped at the chance," Athletic Director Mary Rob Plunkett said. "We are thankful for their trust in UNG to again promote the best championship and student-athlete experience possible."
The golf course recently completed a $2 million, six-month renovation that restored the venue to its original Robert Trent Jones, Sr. layout. Building on the last major renovation in 2006, considerable time and resources were spent on the restoration. The course now features four new golf holes: No. 12, No. 15, No. 16 and No. 17 - the signature hole. All 18 greens have also been reshaped and converted to TifEagle Bermuda grass.
The course reopened to the public Oct. 9 and in the first five days, almost 750 golfers turned out to experience the revamped course for themselves, providing nothing but positive feedback.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2021/11/1053922/chattahoochee-ung-to-host-ncaa-division-ii-womens-golf-national-championship