IRVING, Texas – Following a successful debut at Pinehurst No. 6 last season, the American Athletic Conference Women’s Golf Championship makes its return to Pinehurst, North Carolina in 2022. The American Women’s Golf Championship is scheduled for April 17-19 at Pinehurst No. 6, with live coverage of the third and final round expected to air on ESPN+.
 
Tee times will begin on April 17 between 8-8:34 a.m. (ET) off the first tee with No. 1 seed UCF and No. 2 seed and defending champion Tulsa starting things off. Players from No. 3 seed Houston and No. 4 seed South Florida will head out from 8:40-9:16 a.m., followed immediately by No. 5 seed SMU and No. 6 seed East Carolina at 9:25-9:59 a.m. No. 7 seed Tulane and No. 8 seed Memphis are set to take the course between 10:07-10:41 a.m., and No. 9 seed Wichita State and No. 10 seed Cincinnati round out the entries with tee times from 10:50-11:24 a.m. The field will be re-paired for both day two and day three based on the previous round’s scoring, with split tee times off numbers one and 10 awaiting the round three pairings.
 
AMERICAN WOMEN’S GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP RETURNS TO THE CRADLE OF GOLF
The 2022 American Women’s Golf Championship marks the second straight year of play at Pinehurst No. 6 at the fabled North Carolina golf resort. The 2021 edition of the American Championship saw just two players finish at par or better, with former East Carolina standout turned pro Dorthea Forbrigd shooting a 1-under-par round of 215 to claim solo medalist accolades.

Designed by George and Tom Fazio, Pinehurst No. 6 first opened in 1979 with Tom Fazio redesigning the layout in 2005. The course will play at a par-72, 6,290 yards for the second straight year during the American Women’s Golf Championship.
 
TULSA LOOKING TO JOIN HOUSTON AS REPEAT AMERICAN CHAMPION
Over the first seven American Women’s Golf Championship tournaments only Houston has managed to defend the team title, repeating as the conference champion in both 2018 and 2019. Entering the 2022 conference tournament Tulsa will look to join the Cougars with a repeat victory at Pinehurst No. 6.
 
The Golden Hurricane secured a three-shot victory over Houston last season to bring home the championship trophy. Tulsa held at least a share of the lead at the end of all three days of the 2021 tournament to cap the wire-to-wire win. Three players from the Golden Hurricane championship squad are expected to return to the American tournament field in 2022 including all-conference performer Lorena Tseng (tied for third in 2021) and Lilly Thomas (tied for 10th in 2021).

PINEHURST BARED ITS TEETH DURING 2021 AMERICAN WOMEN’S GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP
Pinehurst No. 6 provided a challenging test for the field at the 2021 American Women’s Golf Championship, with only two individuals shooting par or better and an average score of 76.81 over 149 rounds completed.

The winning team score of 888 (293-301-294) by Tulsa was the third-highest in tournament history, and none of the 10 teams were able to post a combined score under par in any of the three rounds.
 
WHERE TEAMS FROM THE AMERICAN STAND IN THE LATEST GOLFSTAT RANKINGS
UCF enters the 2022 American Women’s Golf Championship slotted 28th in the latest Golfstat team rankings from April 12 to pace the conference. Tulsa (54), Houston (64), South Florida (77), SMU (82), East Carolina (91) and Tulane (92) are also ranked in the team top 100.
 
UCF’s Tunrada Piddon is the top ranked individual player from The American according to Golfstat, checking in 53rd in the April 12 rankings. Tulsa’s Lilly Thomas (90) also joined Piddon among the top-100 players in the country.