This feature originally appeared in the 2025 Fall edition of the Cal Sports Quarterly. The Cal Athletics flagship magazine features long-form sports journalism at its finest and provides in-depth coverage of the scholar-athlete experience in Berkeley. Printed copies are mailed four times a year to Bear Backers who give annually at the Bear Club level (currently $600 or more). For more information on how you can receive a printed version of the Cal Sports Quarterly at home, send an email to CalAthleticsFund@berkeley.edu or call (510) 642-2427.




When Alex and Marie Shipman Director of Men's Golf Michael Wilson received an email in December of 2024 from the Golf Channel and St. Andrews Golf Course in Scotland, he was in disbelief. It was an invitation for not only his team but also the California women's golf team to play in the prestigious 2025 St. Andrews Links Collegiate. The three-day event takes place at the historic Old Course, also known as the birthplace of golf, and Jubilee Course next week and will be televised live on the Golf Channel.

"I remember just this last fall, watching it on TV one night when we were on the road at a tournament, and I'm like, man, how do you get into this thing?" Wilson said.

The third annual St. Andrews Links Collegiate includes the Golden Bears along with Michigan State, Princeton and the University of St. Andrews. It will feature men's and women's teams from all four universities, with two days of stroke play on the Jubilee Course followed by a day of medal match play on the Old Course.

To inform the teams, Wilson and Cal women's golf head coach Sofie Aagaard planned a round of mixed play between the teams at Orinda Country Club and made the announcement before they teed off.

"Needless to say, there was a lot of excitement and some shocked faces and some people erupting into screams and applause right away," Wilson said.

Constance "Coco" Fouillet, a junior on the women's team, couldn't believe it when she heard the news.

"It was so crazy to me to go all the way to Scotland with the entire team that I initially thought that there was another St. Andrews Golf course in the U.S.," Fouillet joked.

A native of Rennes, France, Fouillet has not played any of the St. Andrews' courses before, but she has played in Scotland.

"I'm looking forward to the landscapes a lot," Fouillet said. "I'm also looking forward to my American teammates faces when they experience the weather there. That's real golf right there," Fouillet said.

Not only will this be a chance for the Bears to experience a new country, but also an opportunity to experience a different style of golf - links golf.

"You can putt from fairway onto green, which is a really cool aspect of links golf," Wilson said. "The bunkering is very unique to where you have these layered bunkers with huge lips. It's a much more creative game and there are so many different shots that you can play."

The event will provide great exposure for both Cal golf programs and an experience that only comes with a tournament so unique.

"I think Cal deserves recognition, and playing in such a prestigious event can only be a wonderful thing for our university," Fouillet said.

"It's an incredible experience for our student-athletes traveling abroad with the women's team, which is very unique," Wilson said. "It's a chance for everyone to get to know each other and forge some relationships and make some commitments about the season at large."