Rutgers Women's Golf 2009 Fall Outlook
Sep 03 | Women's Golf
The Rutgers women’s golf team boasts an intriguing blend of youth and experience. The squad returns eight letterwinners with tournament experience, none of which are seniors. The 2009-10 roster includes two juniors, six sophomores and one incoming freshman. Last season, the Scarlet Knights took to the links with a top five typically comprised entirely of true freshmen and sophomores.
|
WATERS
|
“We are coming off a very good year,” said Waters-Ballard. We dropped our scoring average by 15 shots last year with the help of six freshmen who were in and out of the top five. What’s exciting is that we are still a young team. We do not have a senior who will be competing.”
In addition to displaying marked improvement on the course, the Scarlet Knights also excelled in the classroom in 2008-09. Nine women’s golfers were named to the BIG EAST All-Academic team, including seven that will be competing this season. Junior Jeanne Waters (West Sayville, N.Y.) and Kirsten Day (Alhambra, Calif.) were named Academic All-Americans by the National Golf Coaches Association.
“I am very proud to say that we had a 3.47 team grade point average last year,” said Waters-Ballard. “It’s the highest we have ever achieved. When we recruit, we focus just as much on academic performance as we do on competitive performance. We have asked a lot of our student-athletes in the classroom and to their credit, they have responded.”
The most experienced players on the roster are juniors Daley Owens (Taylorsville, Utah) and Waters.Both have competed in 19 career tournaments and are two-time BIG EAST All-Academic honorees.
The sophomore class is led by Kristina Lee (Haddonfield, N.J.) and Elizabeth Carl (Mendota Heights, Minn.). Lee paced the Scarlet Knights as a true freshman with a 79.73 stroke average and had three top 10 finishes in the fall. Carl competed in 10 events as a rookie and had a top 10 finish.
Elisa Mateer (Marmora, N.J.), Day and Lauren Heiba (Bridgewater, N.J.) comprise the rest of the sophomore class. One of four Garden State products on the roster, Mateer played in six events as a true freshman, while Day saw action in seven tournaments. Heiba competed in two events in her first season “On the Banks.”
The Scarlet Knights welcome one newcomer in two-time New England champion Brittany Weddell (Buzzards Bay, Mass.). A two-time national finalist for both the U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links and the U.S. Girls Junior tournaments, she won the 2008 Rutgers Girls Junior Open.
Rutgers begins its fall season in Lewisburg, Pa., at the Bucknell Invitational (Sept. 12-13) before it travels to South Carolina for the Furman Paladin Invitational (Sept. 18-20). The Scarlet Knights then compete at the Penn State Invitational (October 3-4) prior to hosting the annual Rutgers Invitational (Oct. 9-10). The team concludes the fall at the Fairleigh Dickinson Invitational in late October (26-27).
“We have two very competitive events at Penn State and Furman,” said Waters-Ballard. “We are going to see a high level of competition and that is going to be a great test of our skills. If we are able to finish in the top 10 in those events, it’s definitely going to reflect the progress we are making.”
“The girls have been practicing hard all summer,” Waters-Ballard continued. “I believe we are going to drop our scoring average by another five or 10 shots. I see great things. We are in the midst of a terrific growth spurt.”
