The first Golfweek/Sagarin college teams rankings are out and there are no surprises with who the top men’s and top women’s teams are right out of the box.
North Carolina, which lost in the semifinals of the 2023 NCAA Championships in May, will start the new campaign in the No. 1 spot.
The Stanford Cardinal, which also reached the final four last spring before getting knocked out, is the top team in the women’s game.
The Golfweek/Sagarin rankings were released on Sept. 28 and will be updated every Friday throughout the season.
Defending men’s champion Florida is No. 16.
The top 10 in men’s golf looks like this:
- North Carolina
- Auburn
- Washington
- Georgia Tech
- Tennessee
- Ole Miss
- Vanderbilt
- Arizona State
- Texas
- Illinois
North Carolina’s roster is highlighted by David Ford, Maxwell Ford, Austin Greaser, Dylan Menante and Kenan Poole. The Tar Heels already won their first tournament, taking first in the Olympia Fields/Fighting Illini Invitational.
In the women’s rankings, Wake Forest, which won it all last season, is No. 2 to start this year.
Here’s the women’s top 10:
- Stanford
- Wake Forest
- Arkansas
- USC
- South Carolina
- Oregon
- Auburn
- Ole Miss
- Clemson
- Texas A&M
Stanford has started its season with a win in the 2023 Carmel Cup at Pebble Beach with Megha Ganne winning the individual championship. The Cardinal roster also features Rachel Heck, Kelly Xu, Paula Martin Sampedro, Sadie Engleman and Caroline Sturdza.
This season, the men’s and women’s championships will be held at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, California, the first of a three-year commitment. Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona, hosted the previous three seasons, except for 2020, when the championships were canceled due to the COVID pandemic.