Ukrainian junior who came to U.S. last year signs to play college golf at UNC

When Misha Golod made it to the U.S. after fleeing war-torn Ukraine in March 2022, his mother expressed to Golf Digest’s Joel Beall her disbelief, calling it a “dream.”

Fast forward to last Wednesday. Golod, now a 17-year-old senior at Windermere Prep in Davenport, Florida, inked his national letter of intent to play college golf at the University of North Carolina, home to one of the top men’s golf programs in the country.

Reflecting on his journey, Golod told GolfChannel.com, “Coming to the U.S. a couple years ago, I mean, I didn’t consider the fact that right now I would be signing with what right now is the No. 1 college team in the country. It’s amazing. I’ve worked really hard to get to this point in my game, and I’m very proud of what I’ve achieved.”

A year and a half ago, Ukraine’s top junior golfer and his mother fled Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, for Orlando, where he enrolled in the David Leadbetter Academy on a full scholarship. Leadbetter played a crucial role in getting Golod out of Ukraine. In his message to Golf Digest, Golod expressed his immense gratitude for the support and vowed not to let his supporters down.

In recent times, Golod has seen significant improvement in his game. “Like a lot,” he added, pointing out his increased clubhead speed of 112 mph and 290 yards of carry with his driver. He credits his new instructor, Zach Parker, for pushing him to go further.

Golod is determined to excel in collegiate golf, despite being currently positioned at No. 159 in the AJGA junior rankings. The Tar Heels have embraced him as part of their ninth-ranked Class of 2024 signing class, joining fellow signees Ethan Paschal, Grant Roscich and Sihan Sandhu.

After his school’s signing day festivities, Golod headed to Chapel Hill to check out his new university, where he reunited with his father. His parents currently reside back in Ukraine.

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Golod looks back on his journey with immense gratitude. He mentioned, “The amount of support in everything that I would ever need. … I’m just really happy that I made the decision to come over here. This setup and opportunity to grow. I also learned one of biggest lessons in my life at the Leadbetter Academy in that without hard work you’re not going to really achieve anything. You have to put in the hours and the sweat.”

But the journey doesn’t end at signing with North Carolina. Golod added, “From here, it’s just keep working hard, keep improving.”