East Tennessee State University’s Women’s Golf team competed in the Southern Conference Championship on Sunday, April 17, Monday, April 18, and Tuesday, April 19.
“The entire event was very challenging, we had adversity with the weather; we had crazy rain and storms for our practice round,” said head coach Stefanie Shelton.
What was supposed to be a three-day tournament turned into a two-day one when the rain canceled play on Monday, having the second round of play split between Sunday and Tuesday.
“This season has been an absolute rollercoaster of a season; we’ve had so many highs and so many amazing things happen this season for us. Going into the tournament I would say that we felt good, but we also had come off of a spring where we were beaten up a lot,” Shelton said. “They were physically and mentally exhausted and we had a lot of injuries after being on the road that long.”
At the end of the tournament play, senior Hollie Muse (Liverpool, England) placed third individually, and freshman Sera Hasegawa (Gifu, Japan) landed a three-way tie for fifth place.
Overall, this season some highlights were winning three tournaments, two in the fall and one in the spring. Three individuals also won events.
“We posted one of the lowest rounds of the year in the fall. A single round score of 17 under par, that was second in the nation at that point,” said Shelton. “And there were so many positives this year. We reached our highest ranking of all time at 36 in the nation.”
Both Hasegawa and Muse were selected to play as individuals in the NCAA Women’s Golf Regional that will take place from Monday, May 9 through Wednesday, May 11. They were also named to the All-Southern Conference Team.
Finally, Hasegawa landed a spot on the All-Freshman Team and was named Freshman of the Year.
