She has known for some time, although the announcement just became official on Monday. Cheyenne Woods, a veteran of the LPGA Tour, the Epson Tour, and the Ladies European Tour, has been elected to the Wake Forest University Hall of Fame.
Woods graduated from Wake Forest in 2012 with a degree in communications. During her days competing for the Demon Deacons, she set the school record at the time for career-low scoring average, was a two-time All-American, and was All-ACC three of her four years.
When she won medalist honors at the ACC Championship by seven shots in 2011, those who saw her poise and grace knew they were witnessing something special. Woods didn’t disappoint throughout her professional career. While she would have liked to win more on tour, there was never a time when Cheyenne wasn’t available. Always a fan favorite, she competed around the world for the better part of a decade and won twice as a professional, including in 2014 when she defeated Minjee Lee by two shots to capture the Volvik RACV Ladies Masters on the LET.
But it is her time as a Deac that is drawing all the attention these days.
“(Retired Wake Forest Women’s Golf) Coach (Dianne) Dailey had been trying to reach me to give me the news,” Woods told LPGA.com from her home. “But with the baby and everything, we kept missing each other. Then a few weeks ago we connected, and she let me know.”
Woods and her husband Aaron Hicks of the New York Yankees welcomed their son, Cameron Jaxson Hicks, this past April.
“There’s a panel and a vote,” Woods said of the process of being elected to the Hall. “This is the first year I’m eligible and my name was brought up and they voted me in.”
She hasn’t been back to Winston-Salem, NC since Dailey retired in 2018, but she hopes to change that soon.
“I can’t wait to take Cameron and my husband. He gets so annoyed with me talking about Wake Forest all the time. I want to get back and show him why I talk about it so much.
“But I keep up with the team and who is playing. Last year I was working (as a commentator) at the NCAA Championships for Golf Channel, and I got to be with the players and the coach. It’s been special to follow from a distance, but it’s also a reminder that time flies so fast. It’s been 10 years since I graduated. But it’s nice to see the girls playing well and keep up with them.”
Woods continues to be a strong advocate for players to go to college and earn their degrees while competing in a team environment.
“I really miss the team environment,” she said. “We had an awesome team all four years. We were not only a competitive team, but we were great friends. We spent so much time together, pushing each other off the golf course but we also hung out off the golf course, we lived together: that’s what’s so special about college golf. Those are the memories I cherish the most.
“I’m really grateful for my time at Wake Forest, to have earned my degree and gotten that experience. I will always be an advocate for that.”
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