PREVIEW: Women’s Golf Returns to the Tee Friday in Virginia

Friday, October 4

Virginia Beach, Va.

9:00 AM

Chattanooga

Princess Anne Invitational - Round 1

PREVIEW: Women’s Golf Returns to the Tee Friday in Virginia Image

Junior Michaela Kulhankova.

Photo by: Don Luzynski

10/3/2019 9:59:00 AM | Women's Golf

Junior Michaela Kulhankova and the Chattanooga Mocs women’s golf team is back in action this weekend at the Princess Anne Invitational.

SCORING | PAIRINGS | STATS/NOTES | ABOUT CHATTANOOGA GOLF

CHATTANOOGA---The Chattanooga Mocs women's golf team played twice within a seven-day period to open the 2019-20 season. The almost two-week wait for event No. 3 comes to a close as the group heads to the Tidewater area for the Princess Anne Invitational.

The three-day, 54 hole opens Friday at Princess Anne Country Club in Virginia Beach, Va. It concludes Sunday with a final 18. The lineup includes Maddy McDanel, Esme Hamilton, Rheagan Hall, Kirsty Beckwith and Michaela Kulhankova. This is the first time this quintet starts out together although all five student-athletes competed in the first two events.

This is the second straight visit to Princess Anne for the Mocs. There are fond memories too as the team turned in their low 18 (289), 36 (584) and 54-hole (873) scores there a year ago. It was a special week for current senior Maddy McDanel.

The Pittsburgh native turned in a 2-under total of 208. Her opening and closing 68s rank tied for the seventh-best 18 in school history, while the 208 is second only to Emily McLennan's 205 winning the 2015 Fall Invitational. McDanel earned her first career top 5 tying for third.

Four of the five in the lineup saw action there in 2018 with only Kirsty Beckwith taking on the par 70, 5,816-yard tract for the first time. They look to use that knowledge to build on a promising start. The Mocs opened the season with an 872 total at the Mercedes-Benz Collegiate, the lowest score for the program since the 2015 Pinehurst Challenge's 1-under 863.

Tee times and scores can be accessed at the links above when available.

LINEUP
Maddy McDanel (72.33), Esme Hamilton (73.00), Rheagan Hall (74.50), Kirsty Beckwith (76.33) & Michaela Kulhankova (78.00).

3 NOTES TO KNOW

The squad already has eight par or better cards this year among three student-athletes: Maddy McDanel (3), Esme Hamilton (3) & Dorota Zalewska (2). There were 14 overall last season led by current assistant coach Monica San Juan's seven.
McDanel is off to a strong start. Through 108 holes, she's 5 over. Her average of 74.31 over her last 11 events (since start of last season) is an almost 3-and-a-half-shot improvement over her career numbers over her freshman and sophomore campaigns (77.78). She's also 1.01 shots ahead of the season scoring average record of 73.44 by Emily McLennan in 2015-16.
Hamilton's 73.00 is also ahead of that mark. She's been very steady each round, but exceptional over the final 18: 1st 18 (74.00), 2nd (74.50) & 3rd (70.50).

FIELD
Chattanooga, Campbell, UCF, College of Charleston, Coastal Carolina, East Carolina, LSU, Marshall, Middle Tennessee, Minnesota, Old Dominion, Sacramento State, USF, UTSA & Virginia Tech

COURSE
Princess Anne Country Club - Par 70 – 5,816 yards

DATES/TEE TIMES (EDT) – ADMISSION IS FREE
Format: 54 holes (18 per day)
Friday: Hole No. 10 (Paired with Minnesota & East Carolina): Kulhankova (9:06), Beckwith (9:17), Hall (9:28), McDanel (9:39) & Hamilton (9:50).
Saturday: TBA (Click pairings link above for details)
Sunday: TBA (Click pairings link above for details)

HISTORY
2018: 6th/295-289-289=873/T3, M. McDanel, 68-72-68=208

DEFENDING CHAMPS
Team: UCF, 284-291-282=857 (+17)
Medalist: Elizabeth Moon, UCF, 67-71-65=203 (-7)

TEAM LEADERS
Scoring Average: Maddy McDanel, 72.33 (+5)
Par 3: Rheagan Hall, 3.13 (+4)
Par 4: Maddy McDanel, 4.06 (+3)
Par 5: Dorota Zalewska, 4.85 (-4)
Eagles/18: N/A
Birdies/18: Esme Hamilton, 3.00 (18)
Pars/18: Maddy McDanel, 11.50 (69)
Bogeys/18: Esme Hamilton, 3.50 (21)
Others/18: Maddy McDanel, 0.00 (0)

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