Baylor School golfer Tia Teiniketo signed with Dalton State Tuesday night. Shown from left are Dalton State Assistant Golf Coach Marsha Whitener, Baylor Coach Gary Partick, Teineketo, and DS Head Golf Coach Jim McGrew.
Tia Teiniketo, a senior standout on the Baylor School women’s golf team, has signed to continue her education and golf career at Dalton State.
“I’m so excited to become a member of the Roadrunner family,” said the native of Vihiti, Fenland during a Tuesday night signing party at Harrison Hall on the Baylor School campus.
“When you look at it and you know she’s from The Baylor School, just immediately you know the traditions that’s here and the players that have come through here,” said Dalton State Coach Jim McGrew.
“We are a new program,” McGrew added.
“We’re only in our second year, but in that first year we finished second in the nation and had an individual national champion and a couple of All-Americans and four Academic All-Americans. When we’re looking for players, it’s someone like Tia. We are looking for individuals who can come in and not only win conference and national titles, but also be the kind of player as an individual to be an All-American and an Academic All-American.”
“Our team got a lot better when the plane landed,” Baylor Coach Gary Partrick said of the boarding student who played two years for the Red Raiders.
“We get boarding golfers from time to time that we don’t know anything about them other than what we’ve been told,” said Partrick. “Tia has had two years of fundamentally sound golf at Baylor. Her stroke average this year was 74.1. She shot one round in two years that started with an 8.”
“This year was absolutely a joy,” Coach Partrick said. “She competed, produced and helped us continue what we’ve had going on here for a long, long time. We’re happy to send her to Dalton State and we’re happy to keep her close.”
The Baylor women’s golf team has won a record 18 Tennessee State championships.