BUIES CREEK, N.C. – Coming off its first tournament victory of the season, Campbell heads to the Mercedes Benz Intercollegiate, hosted by the University of Tennessee, Sun.-Tues. at Cherokee Country Club in Knoxville, Tenn.
 
Earlier this week, Fanni Gronlund claimed her first collegiate win and Campbell presented Val Patino with her first team head coaching victory Tuesday after the final round of the Tot Hill Farm Invitational.  In a field that included four CAA teams, Campbell (279-288-293—860) finished at 4-under as a team, nine strokes better than league rival and tournament host College of Charleston (282-294-293—869) and 16 clear of third-place UNC Wilmington (293-291-292—876).
 
Campbell opened the season with runner-up finishes at the Golfweek Fall Challenge and the Brittany Kelly Classic before claiming its win at Tot Hill Farm.  Through three events, the team's head-to-head record stands at 44-2.
 
Gronlund was the second Camel to win an individual title this year.  Freshman Miah Rivas claimed top honors at the Golfweek Challenge but missed the Tot Hill Farm Invitational due to illness.
 
Patino will start at lineup in Knoxville that includes the top for Camel finishers from Tot Hill Farm in addition to junior Evie McCallum.  Gronlund (T1), Jade Potter (T4), Yukino Kudo (T6) and Linn Svedlund (T16) all posted or matched their collegiate best finishes earlier this week.
 
In Knoxville, the Camels will compete in a 15-team field that includes the host Volunteers of the SEC, plus Big 12 member Baylor.  Campbell is participating in Tennessee's home event for the third-straight year.  The Camels tied for second in the 2024 event before finishing 13th at Cherokee CC last season.
 
The 54-hole event begins Sunday, continues Monday, then concludes Tuesday on the par-71 Donald Ross design.  Live scoring will be available at Scoreboard.clippd.com.
 
Mercedes-Benz Intercollegiate
Cherokee CC | Par 71, 5965 Yards
Knoxville, Tenn. | Oct. 4-6, 2026
 
Live Scoring: Scoreboard.clippd.com
 
Format: 54 holes (18-18-18) with 9:30 a.m. double tee times Sunday and Monday, 9:15 a.m. shotgun start Tuesday.
 
The Field (15 teams): Abilene Christian, Baylor, Campbell, Charleston Southern, Chattanooga, East Carolina Eastern Kentucky, East Tennessee State, Florida International, High Point, Kennesaw State, South Alabama, South Florida, Tennessee, Western Kentucky.
 
The Course – Cherokee Country Club (Par 71, 5965 yards): Founded in 1907 and extended to 18 holes in 1910 by famed architect Donald Ross, Cherokee Country Club is nestled in a bend of the Tennessee River with sweeping view of the Smoky Mountains.  The course was redesigned over in the years, initially through Alex McKay in 1950 and Dan Maples made further revisions in 1985.  In 2000, Ron Prichard (Donald Ross restoration architect) was appointed to restore the course to its former glory. Prichard employed old aerial photographs, and the course was opened to play in 2008.  The club has played host to U.S. Open Qualifying and the Tennessee State Amateur.
 
The Coach: Val Patino is in her third season on the Fighting Camel staff and first a head coach after being promoted from associate head coach this summer.  In her first three tournaments as head coach, she guided the Camels to a team title (Tot Hill Farm Invitational) and two runner-up finishes (Golfweek Fall Challenge, Brittany Kelly Classic).  During two seasons assisting Hall of Fame coach John Crooks, Patino helped lead the Camels to one postseason bid (2025) and a pair of third-place finishes in the Coastal Athletic Conference Championship.  She has mentored 2025 CAA golfer of the year Alicia Olsson and the 2025 CAA rookie of the year Fanni Gronlund.  A former five-time Big Sky all-conference performer at Idaho, Patino was named assistant coach at Campbell in August 2024 and elevated to Associate Head Coach one year later.  She spent two years as graduate assistant coach at Ball State.
 
The Lineup:
 
Junior Fanni Gronlund (Kirkkonummi, Finland) is coming off her first collegiate win – a T1 finish at the Tot Hill Farm Invitational (67-71-72—210), where she birdied 3 of the last five holes.  She was named CAA Golfer of the Week (Sept. 30).  Gronlund owns the 12th-lowest scoring average (min. 50 rounds) in school history (74.93) with six top-10 finishes in 23 outings.  She opened the season with a T5 effort (67-75-72—214, +1) at the Golfweek Fall Challenge, where she fired a collegiate-low 67 in the opening round at Caledonia.  She owns the second-lowest scoring average (72.1) on the team this season with five rounds of par, or better golf.  Gronlund, who led the team with a 74.3 scoring average in '25-26, placed among the top-10 golfers in both the '25 (T10) and '26 (7th) CAA Championship.  Over the summer, she won the Finnish Strokeplay Championship and led Finland to a fourth-place finish in Women's European Team Championship.  She was named CAA Rookie of the Year in 2025 and is a two-time WGCA All-America Scholar.
Collegiate career low round: 67 (2026 Tot Hill Farm Invitational)
Career-best finish: T1 (2026 Tot Hill Farm Invitational)
Career results at Mercedes Benz Intercollegiate
2024 – (T58) 76-80-77—233 (+20)
2025 – (T46) 73-69-80—222 (+9)
 
Senior Jade Potter (Edinburgh, Scotland) posted her second top-5 finish of the season – a T4 at the Tot Hill Farm Invitational (70-70-74—214), where she was named to the all-tournament team.  She placed T5 at the Golfweek Fall Challenge (72-70-72—214, +1).  She has compiled a 72.6 scoring average through three events with 3 rounds of par, or better, golf.  Potter was a member of the 2026 CAA All-Championship team after a career-best T4 finish at the league tournament.  Over the summer, she represented Scotland at the European Ladies Team Championship and Home Internationals.
Collegiate career low round: 70 (4X, last 2026 Tot Hill Farm Invitational)
Career-best finish: T4 (2026 CAA Championship, 2026 Tot Hill Farm Invitational)
Career results at Mercedes Benz Intercollegiate
2025 – (T67) 76-75-79—230 (+17)
 
Freshman Yukino Kudo (Tokyo, Japan) is coming off her first collegiate top-10 finish – a T6 (69-74-72—215) at the Tot Hill Farm Invitational, where she fired a collegiate-low 69 in the opening round.  She has compiled a 73.4 stroke average through three events.  She notched her first collegiate top-20 finish (T20) at the Brittany Kelly Classic (77-73-75—225).  A graduate of Montverde Academy in Florida, Kudo won the opening event in the 2025 IJGA × NXXT College Pathway Series and competed in the Florida State Girls Junior Championship.  She also won the 2025 Lake Nono Junior Open.
Collegiate career low round: 69 (2026 Tot Hill Farm Invitational)
Career-best finish: T6 (2026 Tot Hill Farm Invitational)
 
Sophomore Linn Svedlund (Uppsala, Sweden) has recorded her collegiate best finishes in Campbell's last two outings.  She placed T20 at the Brittany Kelly Classic (79-74-72—225) before posting a T16 result (73-73-75—221) at Tot Hill Farm.  Svedlund owns a 74.3 stroke average in two events this year.  Last season, she posted a 78.2 scoring average over 20 rounds and turned in a collegiate-low, even-par 71 at the Mercedes Benz Intercollegiate.  During her junior career, Svedlund was ranked sixth among Swedish U18 girls.
Collegiate career low round: 71 (2025 Mercedes Benz Intercollegiate)
Career-best finish: T16 (2026 Tot Hill Farm Invitational)
Career results at Mercedes Benz Intercollegiate
2025 – (T64) 79-79-71—229 (+16)
 
Junior Evie McCallum (Limekilns, Scotland) will make her season debut at Cherokee CC.   She is a two-time CAA Commissioner's Honor Roll student, but injuries have limited her to just two tournament appearances over her first two collegiate seasons.  McCallum played in one event as a freshman in 2024-25.  The 2023 Scottish Girls Amateur champion, she represented her country in the 2023 and 2024 Royal & Ancient Home Internationals and European Girls Team Championships.  Over the summer, McCallum finished T8th at the Northern Ladies Open and 26th at Scottish Women's Amateur Championship.
Collegiate career low round: 77 (2X, last 2026 ECU Ironwood Invitational)
Career-best finish: T61 (2026 ECU Ironwood Invitational)
 
Next: Following the Mercedes Benz Intercollegiate, the Camels close their fall season with the UNCG Collegiate, Oct. 19-20 at Forest Oaks GC in Greensboro.