The UTC women’s golf team opens its fourth season of play at the Labor Day Shootout Monday. The Lady Mocs will play the famed TPC at Sawgrass Stadium Course with its infamous No. 17 island green.
It seems like just yesterday that the Mocs teed it up for the first time. Yet now, there are two fourth-year seniors who were entering their first collegiate event three years ago.
“They are no longer my wee little ones,” said head coach Colette Murray. “Emma and Christine have meant so much to this program. They’ve built the foundation for a tradition of excellence for others to follow.
“Of course, they still have some building to do this season.”
It all starts in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. The event, a late addition to the schedule, is small in numbers, but not in talent. Along with the Mocs, the University of Florida helps headline the six schools in attendance. Coastal Carolina was in the 2010 NCAA East Regional with the Mocs, while UCF, Jacksonville and USC Upstate round out the field.
Emma de Groot just missed earning All-American honors in 2009-10. The senior owns all but one record in building the foundation of the program. She has six wins on her three years for the Mocs.
This marks the fourth season of the program Colette Murray started in 2007-08. That season, the Lady Mocs opened with three straight victories. UTC has seven team titles and six medalists in three season reaching NCAA Regionals each year and the Finals in 2009.
The lineup includes Emma de Groot, Maju Loza, Christine Wolf, Jordan Britt and Yushira Budhram.
The field includes UCF, UTC, Coastal Carolina, Florida, Jacksonville and USC Upstate.