After making the school’s fourth appearance at an NCAA Regional in the last six years, the Mississippi State women’s golf team looks to be in great shape to make it five in seven years.
The Lady Bulldogs return four letterwinners from last year’s squad and will look to rely on a transfer and two freshman to fill the fifth spot.
The players and head coach Christi Sanders have set similar goals this season as they did last year.
“Ultimately, the team is working all year long to earn a postseason bid to the NCAA Regionals,” Sanders said. “Then they have a chance to play their way into the NCAA Championships.”
The team must also focus on one tournament at a time to reach its goals at the end of the season, Sanders said.
“The team is concerned about place finishes in each event,” she said. “The goal is to have everyone play well and be able to drop a good round daily when we score by keeping four of the best five rounds each day in competition.”
Also playing a big part in reaching their goals, the Lady Dawgs must find consistency to have success this spring.
While consistency is something that the team is working to improve, the team has plenty of strengths to rely on that could help out their consistency this spring.
“What I have seen in the starting line-up is that each player has the ability to shoot low numbers and help the team total,” Sanders said. “I feel that some of the higher rounds come from course management mistakes.”
The Players
The Lady Bulldogs return four letterwinners from last year’s squad, a transfer and two true freshmen.
Perhaps the biggest returnee for the squad is returning all-SEC performer Amanda Mathis. Mathis led the Lady Dawgs in all four tournaments in the fall and finished in the top six in each event. She concluded last fall with a 73.58 stroke average and had four rounds of par or better.
Seniors Stephanie Godare and Ashleigh Korzack were a mainstay in the line-up for the first four tournaments this season and will play a major role in the success that MSU will have this spring.
Godare was second on the team in stroke average in the fall with a 75.25. She finished in the top 15 in all four events including an eighth place finish at the Lady Paladin Invitational.
Korzack had a 77.25 stroke average this fall, which was third best on the team. Korzack placed in the top 20 in three out of four events this fall. She set seven career records during the fall including a low round of 73 at the Chrysler Challenge.
Sophomore Julia Huh also played in all four events in the fall and was fourth on the team with a 78.25 stroke average. Huh has already set five career marks this fall and will be a major factor in the Lady Bulldog line-up this spring.
After the departure of Marli Mikulecky, the fifth spot in the lineup will be filled by one of the three newcomers on the Lady Bulldog squad. Gulfport native Emily Parker transferred this season after a year at Troy University. As a freshman at Troy, Parker played in seven events and held a stroke average of 80.80. Her best finish came at the Lady Jaguar Invitational where she tied for 22nd.
Two true freshmen Leigh Phillips and Jillian Jones will also compete for a spot in the line-up this spring.
Phillips is a native of Meridian and was a two time MPSA 3A State Champion at Lamar School. Jones hails from Crossville, Tenn., and was the Tennessee 3-A State runner-up at Cumberland County High School.