Delaware Battles Back to Win CAA Women’s Golf Championship; Henkel Captures Medalist Honors in Playoff

Delaware Battles Back to Win CAA Women’s Golf Championship; Henkel Captures Medalist Honors in Playoff

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Miles McQuiggan

SOUTHPORT, N.C. (April 14, 2024) – The Delaware women’s golf team climbed from third place to first on the tournament's final day to clinch the 2024 CAA Women’s Golf Championship on the final hole of the 54-hole tournament at The Reserve Club at St. James.


 
Delaware’s third CAA title, joining Championships in 2016 and 2017, was sealed on Lilia Henkel’s birdie on 18 that not only secured the team crown but sent Henkel to an individual playoff, where she bested Charleston’s Viktoria Hund on another trip down the 18th hole at The Reserve Club.
 
Charleston and UNCW finished tied for second with league newcomer Campbell fourth and Elon in the top five. Towson placed sixth, William & Mary was seventh, and North Carolina A&T, Monmouth, and Hofstra rounded out the 10-team event.
 
The top 11 finishers in the tournament – including a tie for 10th – were split among five programs, with Charleston and UNCW each claiming three, Campbell and Delaware two, and Elon one. The Camels, Cougars, Blue Hens, and Seahawks combined to feature 16 of the top 17 players in the tournament.
 
Sunday’s final round was played under sunny skies and temperatures in the high 60s with a calmer wind than the first two days of competition that saw golfers facing gusts in excess of 30 miles per hour. Three players – Hund (-4), Delaware’s Christina Carroll (4), and Campbell’s Isabella Hahne (E) – were at par or better Sunday after just one round below par was turned in (by Henkel) in the winds of the first two rounds.
 
Delaware is the fourth different champion in the last five tournaments, following UNCW (2019), James Madison (2021), and Charleston (2022 and 2023). The Blue Hens are the fifth program to win three CAA titles, joining Charleston, Georgia State, James Madison, and UNCW; those five teams have combined to capture all 21 league titles.

Henkel is the second individual medalist in league history via a playoff and first since James Madison’s Kiley Bishop won on the fourth hole of a three-person playoff in 2005. The four-stroke team margin was the narrowest since 2012, when UNCW defeated James Madison by four shots. The Championship was the first in league history where the top three teams were separated by less than five shots at the conclusion of the tournament.
 
Delaware and potential at-large selections will learn their destinations for NCAA Regional play when the NCAA Women’s Golf Championship field is announced Wednesday, April 24 at 2 PM on GOLF Channel.
 
2024 CAA Women’s Golf Championship
The Reserve Club at St. James – Par 72; 6,013 yards
 
Team Leaderboard
1. Delaware 312-305-292=909
T2.  Charleston 309-310-294=913
T2.  UNCW 308-304-301=913
4. Campbell 312-309-304=925
5. Elon 318-315-304=937
6. Towson 331-329-306=966
7. William & Mary 319-331-321=971
8. N.C. A&T 335-327-313=975
9. Monmouth 337-327-327=991
10. Hofstra 340-347-332=1019
 
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