PREVIEW: Women’s Golf Heads to Knoxville

Sunday, October 15

Knoxville, Tenn.

Chattanooga

Mercedes-Benz Collegiate - Round 1

Giulia Foresta

Photo by: Josh Shelton

10/14/2023 7:38:00 AM | Women's Golf

Giulia Foresta and the Chattanooga Mocs tee off Sunday against a stout field at the Mercedes-Benz Collegiate in Knoxville.

STATS/NOTES | SCORING | ABOUT CHATTANOOGA GOLF

CHATTANOOGA---The Chattanooga Mocs are right back at it this weekend in Knoxville at the Mercedes-Benz Collegiate. The Mocs are coming off a third-place finish at the Evie Odom Invitational behind Makenzie Cooper's first collegiate win.

Cherokee Country Club awaits our intrepid band of golfers. There's a slight change in the quintet with Cooper joined by Violeta Fernandez-Tagle, Kera Healey, Giulia Foresta and newly-entered Nieves Martin. Carmen Belmonte is playing as an individual. It's a group looking to progress after a solid start over the opening 108 holes.

"We are excited to play in another extremely strong field and see where we stack up," Coach Colette Murray began. "We had a solid week of practice, and I believe we got better in a few areas that hurt us last week. At the end of the day, we just want to put three really solid rounds together as a group and be able to drop a good score. That will be major progress for us, and it's what we are hoping for."

The Mocs tee off Sunday at 9:45 a.m., playing with Kansas and Wisconsin. Martin leads off for the group with the lineup list in full below. Live scoring, including pairings when available, is linked above.

Mercedes-Benz Collegiate
Oct. 15-17 (S-T) | Knoxville, Tenn.
Cherokee C.C. | Par 71 | 5,965 yards

Notes to follow…

13th entry in the Mercedes-Benz Collegiate & 9th visit to Cherokee C.C. Best finish is 7th as a team in 2010 and 2019. Top Individual? T2, Dorota Zalewska in 2021.
Cooper's 54-hole score of 203 (-7) is a new school record. It nipped Dorota Zalewska's 204 (-12) winning the 2023 NCAA Raleigh Regionals. Zalewska still holds the mark vs. par.
Freshman Violeta Fernandez-Tagle is off to a great start. She's played par or better on 81.5 percent on her first 108 collegiate holes (88). She leads the team in pars with 79.

Lineup
9:45 a.m.: Nieves Martin (1st start)
9:55 a.m.: Giulia Foresta (72.17)
10:05 a.m.: Kera Healey (72.83)
10:15 a.m.: Violeta Fernandez (73.83)
10:25 a.m.: Makenzie Cooper (74.50)
(Individual) 10:35 a.m.: Carmen Belmonte (76.83)

Field
Chattanooga, UCF, Clemson, ETSU, Kansas, Kansas St, Kent St, Louisville, Maryland, Ole Miss, NC State, Pepperdine, Tennessee, Wisconsin

History
Year: Team Scores | Top Individual
2008: T9th, 296-302-295-893 | T10, Maria Salinas, 73-74-70=217 (+1)
2009: 8th, 300-302-305=907 | T20, Emma de Groot, 73-72-79=224 (+8)
2010: 7th, 300-293-289=882 | T9, Christine Wolf, 73-73-70=216 (E)
2012: 14th, 311-307-304=922 | T26, Jordan Britt, 76-72-74=222 (+6)
*2013: 8th, 292-ppd-299=591 | T19, Emily McLennan, 70-76=146 (+4)
*2014: 13th, 317-298-308=923 | T15, Agathe Sauzon, 76-72-74=222 (+9)
*2015: 12th, 295-294-319=908 | T34, Emily McLennan, 72-71-80=223 (+10)
*2016: 9th, 295-289-290=874 | T23, Holly Morgan, 77-70-71=218 (+5)
*2018: 15th, 307-302-304=913 | T31, Monica San Juan, 75-75-74=224 (+11)
*2019: 7th, 289-289-294=872 | T11, Maddy McDanel, 71-71-71=213 (E)
*2021: T3rd, 288-290-286=864 | T2, Dorota Zalewska, 68-71-72=211 (-2)
*2022: 11th, 292-302-286=880 | T16, Dorota Zalewska, 69-74-69=212 (-1)
*Played at Cherokee C.C.

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