Sunday, September 16, 2012

JOHNSON CITY (Sept. 16, 2012) – With the reigning Atlantic Sun Conference individual champion and a bevy of experienced, talented players on its roster, the ETSU women’s golf team will begin the 2012-13 season on Monday in the Cardinal Cup hosted by the University of Louisville at the Cardinal Club in Simpsonville, Ky.

Beginning her 10^th season at ETSU, head coach Stefanie Shelton returns a lineup that includes four of five players from last season who saw the majority of the team’s tournament playing time. That group includes one senior, two juniors and a sophomore.

The youngest of the returning players is Gabrielle Wahl (Heidenheim, Germany), but she is also the one player who made the biggest splash a year ago, leading the team in stroke average and winning her final two tournaments of the regular season – including the A-Sun title. Wahl ultimately ended the year with an at-large berth to the NCAA regionals, becoming just the second ETSU woman to earn that honor.

Along with Wahl, the Bucs will return juniors Sian Evans (Gillingham, England) and Larissa Steinfeldt (Eschweiler, Germany), along with senior Chloe Garner (Somerset West, South Africa). Evans is coming off another season in which she was named first team All A-Sun, while finishing second on the team with a 74.8 stroke average. Meanwhile, both Steinfeldt and Garner competed in each of the team’s 10 tournaments last year.

The Bucs have also added junior transfer Lourdes Lopez (Cadiz, Spain) and true freshman Vivienne Chin (Kota Kinabalu, Sabah Malaysia).

For more on ETSU women’s golf throughout the 2012-13 season, visit ETSUBucs.com and click on the women’s golf link.