Makenzie Cooper and the Chattanooga Mocs host the 6th Chattanooga Classic with the venue shifting to the Honors Course this weekend
photo by Josh Shelton/GoMocs.com
The Chattanooga Mocs women’s golf team welcomes a strong field this weekend as the 6th Chattanooga Classic will unfold at the prestigious Honors Course. In hosting this event for the fifth straight year and seventh time overall, UTC will be among those taking on one of the premier venues in the nation.
Play starts on Friday at 8:30 a.m. and continues with 18 holes per day with a champion crowned after the 54th hole on Sunday. This will be the eighth start of the season for the Mocs, the fourth of the spring calendar. The field includes two top 15 squads – 10th ranked North Carolina and No. 13 Virginia – along with another top 25 in No. 22 Duke as well as other notable contenders in Florida, Georgia, Campbell and defending champion Michigan.
The tournament will also feature the two winningest women's golf coaches in NCAA history. Duke's Dan Brooks (143 wins) and Campbell's John Crooks (100) have both topped the century mark.
Chattanooga is led by sophomore Violeta Fernandez-Tagle’s 72.62 scoring average. She is joined this weekend by junior Kera Healey (74.43), sophomore Giulia Foresta (74.62), junior Makenzie Cooper (75.33) and senior Nieves Martin (78.43). Freshman Chloe Stevenazzi (79.80) is teeing up as an individual.
“If you have a look at the field, you can see that we've got some of the best teams in the country coming to Chattanooga, which is a really cool thing,” UTC head coach Colette Murray said. “We've got a lot of support from the community. A lot of The Honors members are friends of the program, and I think it's just an exciting time for us as a university, as a program and for the city to all come together.”
The Mocs have one win (2015) and a runner-up (2021) in previous editions of the event. This year’s event moves to the Honors Course after three years at Council Fire Golf Club. The Honors Course, a par 72 layout that will play at 6,180 yards this weekend, is a Pete Dye masterpiece that has been considered one of the best courses in the country almost from the first tee shot in 1983. Located just outside Chattanooga in Ooltewah, The Honors Course has a distinguished history of hosting major amateur events including two NCAA Men’s Golf Championships (1996, 2010), 1991 U.S. Amateur, 1994 Curtis Cup and last year’s U.S. Senior Amateur. The 2026 U.S. Women’s Amateur and the 2031 U.S. Amateur are on the docket as well.
“The Honors Course is known to be very amateur friendly,” Murray said. “The USGA obviously comes back to the Honors frequently. We just had the U.S Senior Am there with the Women's Am coming and the U.S. Am. Once again, look at the field. There are a lot of players who could be back here next year playing in the U.S Women's Am. This gives them a sneak peek at what the course looks like, and how it might play. That was probably one of the biggest pulls, other than it has the reputation of being one of the best courses in the country.”
Healey led the Mocs the last time out tying for 19th at the Florida State Match Up. She beat two players ranked in the top 75 and topped the field average by 5.19 shots. Fernandez-Tagle is currently vying for two scoring records. Her 72.62 mark for the season is just 0.09 behind Dorota Zalewska’s 72.53 set in 2021-22, and her 72.70 average in 54 career cards is 2.84 shots ahead of Emma de Groot’s 74.54 as she nears the midpoint of her career. Foresta had a season-high six birdies in the final round at FSU. That was nearly half the team’s total of 13. She had a team-high 10 for the weekend.
“I feel like the team is in a really, really good place right now,” Murray said. “We've worked really hard this year, and the girls are excited to host at home and to host at The Honors. This has been a 19-year endeavor, and I think they feel special that they get to be the group that does it. We've had some ups and downs this year, but we're hoping that we can peak at the right time, and this would be a good time to start showing what we're really capable of doing.”
Live scoring provided by walking scoring volunteers with each group via the live scoreboard. You can follow that action at the link Clippd.