Women’s golf finds success in season debut

The ETSU women’s golf team entered their season debut at the Terrier Intercollegiate Tournament after much anticipation. Head coach Stefanie Shelton and her team had not competed in a tournament since their last showing in the River Landing Classic on March 10.

Despite the team’s absence from tournament play due to COVID-19, the Bucs still found major success, placing first in the October contest by 12 shots.

Though the team had spent time away from the clubs, Shelton believes that her players’ love for the game had been present throughout the rugged pandemic journey.

“It really wasn’t difficult to get the girls up and going,” Shelton said. “They’ve been chomping at the bits to go play and they showed up when it was tournament time.”

While Shelton seemed pleased with the Bucs performance, she also remains focused on keeping the team committed to the process — something that Shelton has found success doing throughout her 13 seasons with ETSU women’s golf.

“We must remain competitive amongst one another in practice, as well as in tournaments that we enter into the future,” said Shelton.

Not only did the Bucs come away victorious in the South Carolina tournament, but they also touted a total of five players within the top-10 of the two-day contest.

When looking at the stat sheet, it seems that ETSU pulled away thanks to sheer talent and perseverance; however, Shelton believes that her team’s dense lineup proved to be a difference maker.

“We have a lot of depth on the team with seven girls, and all of them are capable of continuing the success that we showed in South Carolina,” said Shelton.

One Buccaneer stood out. Warda Amira Rawof (Kuala, Malaysia), entering her final year at ETSU, found major success finishing the tournament with 33 pars and nine birdies.

“I went into the tournament feeling really good and I think that it showed on the course,” said Rawof.

Much like her coach, Rawof believes that the team must continue to develop if they want to make advancements in the future.

“There is always room for improvement,” said Rawof. “Personally, I think we should aim under par next time and I think that is something that we can definitely do.”