This weekend brought a bout of spring weather as the Bucs headed south to Augusta, Georgia for the Augusta Invitational.
Taking advantage of the warm weather, junior Hee Ying Loy (Johor, Malaysia) came out strong during the three day meet. Loy, the oldest player on the team, placed 9th out of 87 participants. Loy leads the team with the lowest score on the season with a scoring average of 71.4.
Loy led the back for ETSU, with the rest of the team clocking in towards the middle of the scoresheet. Kornbongkoat Sararat (Nongkhai, Thailand) was next up for the Bucs in 48th place. Tereza Melecka (Belcovice, Czech Republic) and Ankita Kedlaya (Bangalore, India) were right behind Sararat, finishing in 54th and 57th place, respectively.
ETSU finished 10th out of 15 teams in what proved to be an off meet for the team. The majority of the team shot over their scoring averages for the season. However, there is still two more meets before the Southern Conference championships. The Bucs are a young team this year, with only one upperclassmen on the team of seven.
Despite this, ETSU has shown potential for success. In the fall, ETSU placed 2nd in the Johnie Imes Invitational. More recently, they placed 9th in the Edwin Watts Kiawah Island Spring Classic, a meet that featured SoCon rivals Samford, UNC-Greensboro, and Western Carolina. UNC-Greensboro was the only SoCon team to finish ahead of ETSU, coming in 7th out of the 43 teams.
No matter the placing, the Augusta Invitational and the remaining meets in the season are valuable experience to a young team looking to compete for years to come. Top performer Loy is poised to return next season, along with the rest of her teammates.
The remainder of the season is a good test for this team, and any postseason success will be a good learning tool for the many freshman and sophomores on the squad. The Bucs will get the chance to prove themselves again next weekend at the Anuenue Spring Break Classic in Hawaii.
