The Chattanooga Mocs women’s golf program has dominated the Southern Conference landscape since it was re-started in 2007-08. Over those eight campaigns, UTC has five league titles and four conference medalists, along with seven NCAA Regional and one NCAA Championships appearances.
With that much success, it is no wonder that former Mocs are making headlines. Christine Wolf (2008-11) and Agathe Sauzon (2013-15) earned full status on the Ladies European Tour for 2016, albeit in different ways.
Wolf made the most of her conditional status in 2015.
Playing LET events in 2014 and 2015 positioned her to make the jump. She finished last year’s slate at No. 36 in the tour’s Order of Merit, earning full her full card.
"It was really nice to already know from the start of the season that I'd be playing a full schedule, therefore it was much easier to plan than the years before,” Wolf shared. “I pretty much knew by June that I had enough money to keep my full card.
“After that it was much easier to focus on ‘just playing’ and not thinking about ‘keeping the card’ anymore. I think that's one of the reasons why I made a lot of cuts last year."
Sauzon completed UTC eligibility last spring tying for fourth at the SoCon Championships. She prepared during the summer for LET Q-School and made it on her first try at Amelkis Golf Club and Samanah Country Club in Morocco. Her 6-under, 90-hole total of 354 tied for 17th as she claimed her 2016 card.
"I just had all the images of big tournaments that I was dreaming of not too long ago,” she said of what ran through her mind when she realized her card was in hand. “I felt so happy to make it a step closer to my main goal (top of LPGA Tour)!"
Coming off balancing classes (Dean’s List student) and practice as late as April of 2015, Sauzon learned quickly the difference between pro and college golf.
“It's a lot of golf because it's around six to eight hours a day including workouts,” she added. “But it can be lonely because you don't practice with a team like in college.”
She continued sharing her experience as a Moc, “First, the mindset at UTC is really positive to push athletes so hard to be at their best level. That helped me to believe that I can make it. Also the high-quality tournaments we play each year gave us great experience to compete at the professional level."
Wolf agreed that her time in Chattanooga was a strong stepping off point for her career on the course.
"One of the most important things I learned was definitely time management,” she explained. “As a student-athlete, you don't have much time to waste. Also, I learned a lot about how to practice right and get the most out of it. Practice got much more structured than what I was used to before. For me, that worked."
They are not alone in the professional ranks. Two former SoCon Champions are living the same professional dream here in the United States. Six-time collegiate winner Emma de Groot (2011 SoCon Medalist) and Jordan Britt (2012 SoCon Champ) are on the Symetra Tour.
The Symetra Tour is the LPGA’s equivalent to the Web.com Tour. Both de Groot and Britt turned in top 10’s on it during the 2015 season. de Groot played in two LPGA events as well, making the cut at the Yokohama Tire LPGA Classic in Prattville, Ala. Britt won her first pro event in August capturing the Fort Rucker Open, a National Women’s Golf Association event.
The Mocs return to the tee Feb. 22-23 at the USA Women’s Invitational in Mobile, Ala.