PAWLEY'S ISLAND, S.C. – Campbell delivered the 100th career women's golf coaching victory to John Crooks on Tuesday when the Camels won the Golfweek Fall Challenge at Caledonia Golf & Fish Club.
 
Even with Crooks not on location – he was instead with the Campbell men's team about a 45-minute drive north at Grande Dunes in the Myrtle Beach Golf Trips Intercollegiate – Campbell (285-282-283—850) turned a 3-shot second-round deficit into its first tournament triumph of the season.
 
Crooks, who split his time this week between Caledonia and Grande Dunes, joins Dan Brooks of Duke (143) as the only coaches in NCAA Division I women's golf history with 100 tournament victories.  Now in his 35th season as head men's coach and 34th in charge of the women's program, Tuesday's triumph was the 161st of his career, including 61 on the men's side.
 
"It's kind of a hard number to fathom for me," said Crooks. "Everything is about this team and about the girls and about the girls over the years.  There's an awful lot of people who contributed, sacrificed and played their hearts out so that we have so many victories.  I'm so proud to be a Camel!"
 
Sophomore Mira Berglund (70-70-68—208) recorded a collegiate-low, 3-under-par 68 Tuesday and posted her best finish in a Campbell uniform (tied for third) to lead the Camels.  A native of Oernskoeldsvik, Sweden, Berglund made four birdies on the day.  The only blemish on her scorecard was a bogey on the par-3 ninth hole.  She finished the event second in the field in par-4 scoring (-2) on the Mike Strantz design, was tied for third on the par-5 holes (-4) and T5th with 11 birdies.
 
Fellow sophomore Alicia Olsson tied for sixth (72-68-70—210) after making 10 birdies and playing the par-3 holes at 3-under (T3rd).  Freshman Fanni Gronlund tied for 11th (72-69-71—212) and led the field with 41 pars overall, while making four birdies Tuesday.
 
Junior Isabella Hahne tied for 33rd (71-75-74—220) and red-shirt junior Izabella Grimbrandt finished T52 (76-76-75—227) for the Camels, who won at Caledonia for the seventh time since 2012.  As a team, the Camels led the field with 184 pars and were second with 40 birdies.
 
"From the beginning, I told the team all I wanted was for them to have fun and to have a positive attitude no matter how the round was going, and they did that," said Campbell first-year assistant coach Valeria Patino.  "I liked how they focused on one shot at a time."
 
Trailing CAA rival UNCW by three strokes through 36 holes, Campbell jumped to an early lead Tuesday with seven combined birdies over the first five holes, then closed out the win by playing the final four holes a combined 5-under as a team.
 
The Seahawks (282-282-291—855) finished in second place, five shots behind, and UNCG was third (297-271-292—860) in the 18-team field.  Emma Bush of New Mexico State (66-72-68—206) won individual honors by one stroke over Katie Stephens of Charleston Southern (70-66-71—207).
 
Since 2012, the Camels have won seven team titles (2012, 2013, 2015, 2018, 2021, 2022, 2024) and finished as runner-up twice at Caledonia.
 
"It just shows you how good of a coach he is," said Patino of working with the 2006 WGCA Hall of Fame inductee Crooks.  "We wouldn't be here without him, for sure.  I'm very happy and fortunate to be learning from him, and I cannot wait to see how the future goes."
 
Golfweek Fall Challenge
Caledonia Golf & Fish Club / Pawley's Island, S.C.
Par 71, 6029 Yards / Sept. 8-10, 2024
 
Final Team Results: 1. Campbell 285-282-283—850, 2. UNCW 282-282-291—855, 3. UNCG 297-271-292—860, T4. High Point 286-285-290—861, T4. Charlotte 286-287-288—861, 6. Arkansas State 297-278-296—871, 7. Boise State 300-285-293—878, 8. Morehead State 291-294-295—880, 9. New Mexico State 285-302-297—884, 10. UAB 290-283-312—885, 11. Charleston Southern 302-288-296—886, 12. Dartmouth 296-302-294—892, 13. Tennessee Tech 306-301-298—905, 14. Queens 306-301-299—906, 15. Florida Atlantic 318-296-300—914, 16. North Carolina A&T 313-306-301—920, 17. USC Upstate 310-304-309—923, 18. Stephen F. Austin 316-319-311—946.
 
Final Individual Leaders: 1. Emma Bunch (New Mexico State) 66-72-68—206, 2. Katie Stephens (Charleston Southern) 70-66-71—207, T3. Mira Berglund (Campbell) 70-70-68—208, T3. Pimchompoo Chaisilprungruang (Charlotte) 69-70-69—208, T3. Sophie Lauture (UNCG) 71-65-72—208.
 
Other Campbell Individuals: T6. Alicia Olsson 72-68-70—210, T11. Fanni Gronlund 72-69-71—212, T33. Isabella Hahne 71-75-74—220, T52. Izabella Grimbrandt 76-76-75—227.
 
The Course – Caledonia Golf & Fish Club (Par 71, 6526 yards): Caledonia was ranked No.-27 in in Golf Magazine's 2014 "Top 100 You Can Play" and is annually ranked on "America's 100 Greatest Public courses" list by Golf Digest.  The 6,526-yard Mike Strantz design has been described as having "18 signature holes," with holes routed around majestic oaks and meandering streams. The picturesque 18th hole borders the Plantation's old rice field, and requires a precise tee shot that sets up a difficult second shot: a forced carry onto a green at the foot of the clubhouse.
 
The Coach: Now in his 35th year in charge of the Campbell men's golf program and 34th as head coach of the CU women, John Crooks has been named league coach of the year 23 times in his tenure.  His teams have combined to earn 35 NCAA post-season trips, including 15 straight appearances for the men or women.  His teams have won 161 tournaments and with 100 career tournament titles, Crooks trails only Dan Brooks of Duke (143) on the all-time coaching victories list among Division I women's coaches.  He has guided his teams to 27 league titles, including 19 on the women's side and eight in men's competition.
 
Next: Campbell will travel to the Red Raider Invitational, Sept. 24-25, hosted by Texas Tech at the Rawls Course in Lubbock, Texas.
 
Campbell Top Performances at Caledonia Golf & Fish Club (par 71)
 
Team Finish
1st (2012, 2013, 2015, 2018, 2021, 2022, 2024)
2nd (2014, 2016)
Individual Finish
1st – Isabell Ekstrom (2018) 67-67-68—202
1st – Nadine White (2015) 70-67-70—207
1st – Anna Nordfors (2021) 66-71-71—208
1st – Brooke Bellomy (2012) 68-75-68—211
1st – Tahnia Ravnjak (2013) 76-69-66—211
2nd – Tomita Arejola (2022) 70-70-65—205
T2nd – Ali Prazak (2013) 70-73-72—215
3rd – Anna Svanka (2018) 74-66-67—207*
3rd – Kaylin Yost (2012) 75-70-70—215
T3rd – Mira Berglund (2024) 70-70-68—208
Team Low Round
274 (Sept. 11, 2018) (School Record)
277 (Sept. 10, 2018)
277 (Sept. 12, 2022)
278 (Sept. 13, 2022)
279 (Sept. 11, 2022)
280 (Sept. 12, 2021)
282 (Sept. 13, 2021)
282 (Sept. 9, 2024)
283 (Sept. 9, 2018)
283 (Sept. 10, 2024)
284 (Sept. 10, 2013)
285 (Sept. 12, 2016)
285 (Sept. 8, 2024)
Individual Low Round
65 Stacey White (Sept. 11, 2018)
65 Tomita Arejola (Sept. 13, 2022)
66 Tahnia Ravnjak (Sept. 10, 2013)
66 Anna Svanka (Sept. 10, 2018)*
66 Anna Nordfors (Sept. 12, 2021)
67 Anna Svanka (Sept. 11, 2018)*
67 Lisbeth Brooks (Sept. 12, 2011)
67 Nadine White (Sept. 7, 2015)
67 Isabell Ekstrom (Sept. 9, 2018)
67 Isabell Ekstrom (Sept. 10, 2018)
Team Low 36-hole Total
556 (279-277) (Sept. 11-12, 2022) (School Record)
560 (283-277) (Sept. 9-10, 2018)
562 (280-282) (Sept. 12-13, 2021)
567 (285-282) (Sept. 8-9, 2024)
574 (286-288) (Sept. 9-10, 2012)
575 (290-285) (Sept. 11-12, 2016)
578 (290-288) (Sept. 8-9, 2013)
Individual Low 36-hole Total
134 (67-67) Isabell Ekstrom (Sept. 9-10, 2018) (School Record)
137 (70-67) Nadine White (Sept. 6-7, 2015)
137 (66-71) Anna Nordfors (Sept. 12-13, 2021)
139 (70-69) Izabella Grimbrandt (Sept. 11-12, 2022)
139 (70-69) Isabella Hahne (Sept. 11-12, 2022)
140 (74-66) Anna Svanka (Sept. 9-10, 2018)*
140 (70-70) Tomita Arejola (Sept. 11-12, 2022)
140 (70-70) Mira Berglund (Sept. 8-9, 2024)
140 (72-68) Alicia Olsson (Sept. 8-9, 2024)
141 (72-69) Emily Hawkins (Sept. 9-10, 2018)
141 (71-70) Emily Hawkins (Sept. 12-13, 2021)
141 (69-72) Taylah Ellems (Sept. 11-12, 2022)
141 (72-69) Fanni Gronlund (Sept. 8-9, 2024)
Team Low 54-hole Total
834 (283-277-274) Sept. 9-11, 2018 (School Record)
834 (279-277-278) Sept. 11-13, 2022 (School Record)
850 (285-282-283) Sept. 8-10, 2024
853 (280-282-291) Sept. 12-14, 2021
860 (286-288-286) Sept. 9-11, 2012
862 (290-288-284) Sept. 8-10, 2013
Individual Low 54-hole Total
202 (67-67-68) Isabell Ekstrom (Sept. 9-11, 2018) (School Record)
205 (70-70-65) Tomita Arejola (Sept. 11-13, 2022)
207 (74-66-67) Anna Svanka (Sept. 9-11, 2018)*
207 (70-67-70) Nadine White (Sept. 6-8, 2015)
208 (73-70-65) Stacey White (Sept. 9-11, 2018)
208 (70-70-68) Mira Berglund (Sept. 8-10, 2024)
208 (66-71-71) Anna Nordfors (Sept. 12-14, 2018)
210 (70-69-71) Izabella Grimbrandt (Sept. 11-13, 2022)
210 (73-69-68) Sanna Lundmark (Sept. 11-13, 2022)
210 (72-68-70) Alicia Olsson (Sept. 8-10, 2024)
211 (68-75-68) Brooke Bellomy (Sept. 9-11, 2012)
211 (76-69-66) Tahnia Ravnjak (Sept. 8-10, 2013)