Sept. 9, 2011
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - As head coach Denise St. Pierreenters her 20th season at the helm, the Penn State Women's golf team will open up play at the Cougar Classic, hosted by the College of Charleston in Charleston, S.C., from Sept. 11-13. There will be 22 teams competing in the three-round tournament. The teams will play on the 6,205-yard, par-72 Yeaman's Hall Course, located at the Yeaman's Hall Golf Club.
"I am very excited about getting started," said St. Pierre. "The team has been practicing hard. I feel we have the talent to do some special things this year."
Nine of the teams competing in the Cougar Classic finished in the top 20 in the final Golfweek/Sagarin rankings from the 2010-11 season, including No. 3 Alabama, No. 5 LSU, No. 8 Duke, No. 10 Tennessee, No. 12 North Carolina, No. 14 Wake Forest, No. 17 Vanderbilt, No. 18 Florida and No. 19 Georgia. The Nittany Lions will tee off at 12:51 p.m. in the opening round on Sunday.
"It is an amazing field of teams," said St. Pierre. "It will really give us a measuring stick for the year."
The Penn State women's golf team will have large shoes to fill this coming season after losing four seniors, who tallied 301 rounds of experience between them. Giulia Carando led with 97 rounds played, with Brianna Malcolmson following close behind with 93. The team also loses former Big Ten Golfer of the Week Gia Fanelli, as well as Victoria Arena.
The Nittany Lions do, however, return an abundance of experience on the roster. Though the team has no seniors, it returns four student-athletes who notched more than 20 rounds last season alone. Between the four of them, they bring 102 rounds of experience from last year. Of the four returners who played more than 20 rounds last season, each of them has finished in the top 10 of a tournament at least once in their careers.
The Nittany Lions also boast the addition of assistant coach Abby Pearson, a former professional golfer on the Future's Tour, as well as an assistant coach for both Ball State and Western Michigan.
The team improved dramatically from the 2009-10 season, shaving nearly 10 strokes-per-round as a team off of last season's average. In the 2009-10 season, the Nittany Lions carded an average of 317.7 strokes per round. Last season, the final number was 307.8.
Junior Emily Ransone (Hilliard, Ohio) brings 57 rounds of experience back to the team, followed by classmate Hanule Seo(St. Louis, Mo.), who has 49 rounds under her belt in two seasons.
Ransone leads the field after posting a spectacular sophomore season, improving on a great freshman year. She finished sixth in school history on the season-round average list with a 76.2. Ransone tied her career-best round of 71 twice in the 2010-11 season. Her best finish came when she took second place at the Nittany Lion Invitational. This was tied for a team-best as Gia Fanellimatched that score once. She was one of three golfers to participate in all 29 rounds for the Nittany Lions and had four top-10 finishes on the season.
Ellen Ceresko(Jefferson Township, Pa.) made an immediate impact for Penn State as a freshman. She followed Ransone with the second-best average on the team of players with more than 20 rounds played as she accumulated a 78.3 in 23 rounds played. She had the best finish on the team in two tournaments and earned a tie for fifth place at the Starmount Fall Classic where she shot a 147. This tied her for the 10th-best two-round score in school history.
Hanule Seoalso returns for her junior campaign after having a second-straight successful season. She played all 29 rounds with Ransone and had an average of 78.5, third best on the team. Seo had the best finish on the team in one tournament and tied for 16th place at the Nittany Lion Invitational. She shaved nearly a stroke off of her freshman year's average.
Sophomore Christina Vosters(Bethany Beach, Del.) also made an impact as a freshman. She participated in 21 rounds, one of six players to compete in more than 20. She made the most of them, finishing with the best score on the team twice in seven events. She recorded a 305 at the Big Ten Championships, good for a tie for the fourth-best four-round score in school history.
Jamie Lavin (Deerfield, Ill.) and Courtney Kordes (Natrona Heights, Pa.) also return for their junior seasons with experience. They will be joined by incoming freshmen Elyse Archambault (St-Jean-sur-Rich, Que.), Katlyn Elliott (Peterborough, Ont.), Catherine Herrera (Houston, Texas) and Erin Michel(Mason, Ohio). The four incoming freshmen bring a long list of high school accolades to contribute to a rising Penn State women's golf program.
Penn State will host two tournaments this season with the first being the 36th Nittany Lion Invitational from Sept. 30-Oct. 2 at Penn State's Blue Course. The program will also hold the 2012 NCAA East Regional Championships for the first time. The NCAA Regional Championships will be held from May 10-12.