WCU to host Great Smokies Intercollegiate for 12th-straight year
Cullowhee, N.C. ? First-year head women’s golf coach Mallory Hetzel today released Western Carolina’s 2010-11 schedule which features 10 tournaments spread over both the fall and spring semesters, and includes hosting the Great Smokies Intercollegiate for the 12th-straight year. There are four tournaments slated for the fall portion of the schedule with six in the spring beginning in late February.
“This year’s schedule gives us a great opportunity to compete against our in-conference rivals, as well as several top teams in our region,” said Hetzel, who was named head coach in late June. “We return a strong part of our squad this fall that was a part of four tournament victories last year. With no incoming freshman, our team will have plenty of experience. My goal as a coach is to bring excitement and confidence to the team. I look forward to working with each player, and help each student-athlete reach her potential.”
Western Carolina will open its first season under Hetzel by hosting the 12th-annual Great Smokies Intercollegiate at the Waynesville Inn ? Golf Resort and Spa in Waynesville, N.C. A combined 24 teams will again vie for championship honors at the event. Sharing last year’s team title with Elon, the Catamounts have claimed seven of the 11 all-time team championships, while also having the individual medalist six times in tournament history.
“In recent years, we have played very well at the Great Smokies and we will look to again defend our title and home course this year. We hope to have a strong contingent of Catamount fans out to support us in Waynesville,” Hetzel said.
In late September (25-28), WCU will return to the Starmount Fall Classic after a one-year hiatus. The Catamounts posted an eighth-place team finish in the fall of 2008 with rising senior Josefine Sundh finishing 10th overall. Two weeks later, the Catamounts will make their first-ever appearance at the Tribe Invitational (Oct. 15-17), hosted by William & Mary at the Hollows Country Club in Richmond, Va. WCU last competed in a William & Mary-hosted tournament back in 1996.
The fall portion of the 2010-11 schedule concludes with the Palmetto Intercollegiate at the Oak Point CC in Kiawah Island, S.C., Oct. 24-26. The Catamounts finished eighth for the second-time in the last three years a season ago, with a 13th showing during the 2008-09 season.
Western Carolina will return to coastal South Carolina for half of its six tournaments during the spring semester beginning with the Kiawah Island Classic, hosted by the College of Charleston on Kiawah Island Feb. 19-22. The following week, WCU will again take part in a CofC-hosted event at the Barefoot at the Beach tournament at Barefoot Landing Resort (March 5-8) in Myrtle Beach.
Mid-March will take a break from the Palmetto State as WCU again ventures to the Forest Hills Golf Club in Augusta, Ga., for the Administaff Lady Jaguar Intercollegiate, hosted by Augusta State on March 12-14. WCU finished fourth as a team last year with Sundh placing in a tie for sixth to lead the squad.
On March 19-21, Western Carolina will again travel to Stockbridge, Ga., for the John Kirk Panther Intercollegiate at the Eagle’s Landing Country Club. WCU last played in the event in March of 2009, and posted a team-best, third-place finish during the 2007-08 season.
The month of April opens with the Pinehurst Intercollegiate hosted by CofC at the Pinehurst No. 6 ? an event WCU placed second in last November ? with the spring schedule to conclude with the annual Southern Conference Women’s Golf Championship at the Moss Creek Golf Club in Hilton Head, S.C. The Catamounts will look to improve upon last year’s sixth-place team showing in the conference finale.
Fall 2010
Date Tournament (Host) Site (Location)
Sept. 17-19 Great Smokies Intercollegiate (WCU) Waynesville CC (Waynesville, N.C.)
Sept. 25-28 Starmount Fall Classic (UNCG) Starmount CC (Greensboro, N.C.)
Oct. 15-17 Tribe Invitational (William & Mary) The Hollows CC (Richmond, Va.)
Oct. 24-26 Palmetto Intercollegiate (CofC) Oak Point CC (Kiawah Island, S.C.)
Spring 2011
Date Tournament (Host) Site (Location)
Feb. 19-22 Kiawah Island Classic (CofC) Kiawah Island Resort (Kiawah Island, S.C.)
March 5-8 Barefoot at the Beach (CofC) Barefoot Landing Res. (Myrtle Beach, S.C.)
March 12-14 Augusta State Intercollegiate (Augusta St.) Forest Hills CC (Augusta, Ga.)
March 19-21 John Kirk Panther Intercollegiate (Georgia St.) Eagle’s Landing CC (Stockbridge, Ga.)
April 3-5 Pinehurst Intercollegiate (CofC) Pinehurst #6 (Pinehurst, N.C.)
April 16-19 Southern Conference Championship Moss Creek GC (Hilton Head, S.C.)