CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. ? Women’s golf will become the 17th NCAA-sponsored intercollegiate sport at The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Chancellor Roger Brown announced Thursday.
The University, in conjunction with the school’s athletics department, surveyed the female population with an open vote. The students were asked to submit which sport they would like to see added to the athletics department’s roster. Golf received the most votes. Rowing, already a successful club sport at UTC, will remain at the club level.
“I am very pleased that the student vote supported women’s golf as our new sport here at UTC,” said Dr. Roger Brown, UTC Chancellor. “I believe that women’s golf has a lot of support in the Chattanooga community. Our men’s program is very successful, and I believe this is a sport in which we can be competitive in the Southern Conference. It is a good fit for our campus and our community.”
The addition of the women’s golf program will aid the University in its compliance with the federal requirements of Title IX and improve gender equity among UTC’s athletics scholarships.
“We let the students choose, and we are very happy that they had a say in this decision,” said Laura Mincy, UTC’s Senior Woman Administrator. “Golf is a relatively inexpensive sport, so we will be able to redistribute funds among the other women’s sports and increase their scholarship budgets. Women’s track and field will especially benefit from this addition.”
The new golf team hopes to begin competition in the Southern Conference in the fall of 2006. The NCAA allows six full scholarships for women’s golf which can be divided. Mincy says that the team would likely consist of 10 to 12 golfers.
The head coaching position opening will be announced next week. A search committee headed by Mincy will review applicants and hire the most qualified person for the job. The committee’s goal is to make a decision in December and have a coach in place by January, 2006.
“We will be looking for someone who has a lot of energy,” Mincy said. “We want this person to build a solid program both academically and athletically and be able to contend in the Southern Conference.”