No. 25 SMU women’s golf heads to Wilmington for the 2026 ACC Championship, led by Mackenzie Lee, Emily Odwin and one of the deepest lineups in the field.
No. 25 SMU women’s golf enters the 2026 ACC Women’s Golf Championship with momentum, star power and a real chance to make noise against one of the deepest fields in college golf.
The Mustangs head to Porters Neck Country Club in Wilmington, North Carolina, for the April 16-19 event after stacking another strong season under coach Lauren Mason.
SMU women’s golf has built its success around consistency at the top of the lineup, and that starts with Mackenzie Lee and Emily Odwin.
Lee owns the best career scoring average in program history at 71.56 and recently picked up her first collegiate win by shooting 13-under at the Huntington Bank Collegiate.
Odwin has been nearly as sharp, carrying a 71.82 scoring average this season, which ranks among the best single-season marks the program has ever produced.
That duo gives the Mustangs a proven foundation, but this team has more than two threats.
Celine Chen has improved to a 72.68 scoring average this year and continues to climb the SMU record book, while Grace Jin and freshman Kirra St-Laurent have added needed depth at the right time.
Jin finished 10th in SMU’s last event, and St-Laurent followed with a 12th-place result of her own.
The challenge now gets tougher. The ACC Championship field features 15 teams, all ranked inside the top 87 nationally, with six programs in the top 25.
That means there won’t be any easy rounds, especially with the format opening with 36 holes on Thursday before the cut to match play contenders is determined.
Still, SMU has the resume to believe. The Mustangs have been ranked in the top 25 for a fourth straight season and are coming off a runner-up finish in their home event.
With Lee, Odwin and Chen leading the way, SMU arrives in Wilmington looking like a team capable of contending for another conference championship and strengthening its NCAA postseason profile.
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