JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. –The reigning South Atlantic Conference champions Carson-Newman women's golf team opens the 2015 season on the road in Southern Pines, N.C. at Southern Pines Golf Course at the Ross Rollins Invitational.
Only one athlete is gone from last season's championship-winning squad as second-place finisher at the SAC Championships, Danielle Baiunco, graduated in the spring. Baiunco's leadership is one of the key abilities that coach Suzanne Strudwick had to replace heading into this season.
Strudwick named seniors Meridith Hawkins (Powell, Tenn.) and Kelli Pemberton (Knoxville, Tenn.) as the team's co-captains for the 2015-16 campaign.
"The leadership role is not just on the golf course and what you do there; it's what you do in class and on campus, off the course. To me, that's more important and with Kelli and Meridith being Eagle Scholars, with Meridith winning the SAC Scholar Athlete of the Year last year," Strudwick said. "For me, their leadership roles have been combined leaders and co-captains was a perfect choice. Each of them brings a quality to that role that they couldn't bring on their own, so combining that, they do a great job. I'm really pleased with how they have started as co-captains."
The leading returner for the Eagles heading into the season is sophomore Elizabeth Englang (Oakland, Tenn.) who was named first-team All-SAC as a freshman in 2014. England averaged 79.1 strokes per round and played in all 24 of Carson-Newman's tournaments. She also won the Etowah Intercollegiate last fall for the program's first individual win since 2009.
The Eagles welcome freshmen Taylor Hayes (Lake Ozark, Mo.) and Summer Smith (Knoxville, Tenn.) into the fold for the upcoming season. Hayes was a four-time member of the Missouri All-State team in high school and was named the Missouri Golf Associaton Player of the Year in 2013. Smith was an All-Knoxville Interscholastic League team member as a junior and senior at Halls High School in Knoxville.
Carson-Newman's squad for the Invitational include England, Hayes, Hawkins and sophomores Mikaela Thibodeau (Davie, Fla.) and Ashley Kay (Palos Heights, Ill.).
At last season's Rollins Invitational, Carson-Newman placed sixth against some of the top teams in the South/Southeast Region; the Eagles are participating in the Ross Rollins Invitational for the third time in four years.
Participating in the 2015 edition of the Ross Rollins Invitational are eight of the top-12 teams from the 2015 South regional rankings. Host Rollins was the top-team in the region last year and Lynn was second; Nova Southeastern, Barry, West Florida, Saint Leo, Limestone and Florida Southern are also scattered throughout the field. SAC foes Wingate and Newberry join the Eagles in the event.
"I think there is a level of excitement. Rollins conducts their tournaments like a Division-I event, so the caliber of the other competitors there, you start out the year well. If we finish in the top-seven, which is my goal, we are can move up in the rankings straight away and make an impression," Strudwick said. "It's a tough golf course though. Mid Pines is a wonderful golf course that is of a caliber of a U.S. Open. You have to have expectations that are high, but also you have to be realistic. I think we can do well. I think we can perform."
The Eagles open the season with 36 holes on Monday and cap off the 54-hole tournament with the final 18 holes on Tuesday in Southern Pines.
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