Excitement is growing rapidly upon the inception of the women’s golf season, which begins this Sunday when the Pack travels to Hanahan , S.C . to compete in the Cougar Classic. The team is coming off of a respectable 2010-2011 season, but the progress made in the offseason is the main reason for the wealth of excitement surrounding the program.
The program recently gained two major additions to its staff, acquiring former Southern Methodist University head coach Todd Selders and former North Carolina head coach Sally Austin as an assistant coach and volunteer assistant coach, respectively.
Selders , coming off of a season assisting the men’s golf team at Coastal Carolina University, has eight years of coaching experience, including his seven years at the helm of the SMU program. In his years at SMU, Selders earned Conference USA Coach of the Year honors twice and coached many All-Conference golfers. In the 2005-2006 season, Selders’ team notched a second place finish at the Conference USA Championships.
Austin joins the Wolfpack after 15 seasons in charge of the women’s program at Chapel Hill. The Tarheels were extremely successful under Austin’s command, finishing in the top 25 at the NCAA Championships six times in 15 seasons. Austin coached seven All-American athletes during her tenure with the Tarheels , along with 16 All-ACC athletes. In 2004 she was named Coach of the Year by the Ladies Professional Golf Association.
Head coach Page Marsh is thrilled to have such experienced and respected coaches join her this season.
“It’s so exciting to bring together a group of coaches who want to win an ACC Championship and an NCAA Championship,” Marsh said. “Each of us have a great respect for the game and we definitely have a great respect for one another.”
The new additions to the coaching staff aren’t, however, the only reason to believe the Pack will excel this season. Several members of the team played tough competitive schedules over the summer, some even participating in professional events as amateurs.
Freshman walk-on Augusta James is carrying a great deal of momentum into the season after a great summer of competitive golf. James qualified for the Canadian Open, one of the premier LPGA events of the year, and barely missed the cut by shooting rounds of 74-72 to finish two-over par.
Vivian Tsui , also a freshman, had a remarkable summer as well. Tsui , along with four other teammates, qualified for the Royale Cup Canadian Women’s Amateur Championship in July. Tsui , James, Amanda Baker and Brittany Marchand all finished in the top-20 of the field, which contained over 120 of the best young women golfers in North America. Tsui led the tournament for the first three rounds, before slipping behind on the final day.
Coach Marsh is elated to have a group of women who have such a passion and love for the game that they compete in high-level events even in the offseason.
“A lot of our girls played tough schedules this summer,” Marsh said. “The best arena in which you can place yourself is in competition.”
Despite the fact that one-third of the team is comprised of true freshmen, and the rest are either sophomores or juniors, coach Marsh believes her team is ready to compete at a high level this season.
“In golf, one’s experience is not necessarily determined by their age,” Marsh said. “We have a group of young women coming in who already have great experience.”
Marsh isn’t making any predictions or placing any expectations on her team for this year, but says they’re already setting the tone for a great season.
“The girls wrote personal mission statements and goals for the season and shared them with one another,” says Marsh. “We’re just going to take one shot at a time, each tournament, and at the end of the season we’ll add it up and evaluate how we did.”