HANAHAN, S.C. – The Penn State women's golf team will travel to the 20th annual Cougar Classic hosted by the College of Charleston at Yeamans Hall Club this week.
Penn State took flight on Saturday and plays its practice round on Sunday with the tournament beginning early Monday morning with a 36-hole day followed by a final 18 on Tuesday.
THE TEAM
Penn State’s starting lineup for the week features four returning players and one newcomer as senior’s Michelle Cox (Allentown, Pa.), Drew Nienhaus (St. Louis, Mo.) and Jami Morris (Chagrin Falls, Ohio) and junior Myranda Quinton (Burlington, Ontario) make return trips to Yeamans Hall joined by freshman Jiratchaya Jiratthitinun making her collegiate debut.
Last season Nienhaus fired the best 54-hole score relative to par of her career at the Cougar Classic finishing the week 3-under, 210, and in a tie for 28th in the 96-player field. Nienhaus finished the season with a career-low 73.79 stroke average, good for second on the team behind Cox.
Cox paced the Nittany Lions last season with career-low 73.07 stroke average, the third best single-season stroke average in program history, and three top-10 finishes including her first collegiate victory at the Columbia Classic. Cox had an impressive fall in 2023 firing an eye-popping 68.00 opening round stroke average. Cox is coming off an impressive summer where she was a multiple time winner including medalist honors at a qualifying event to secure her spot in the 2024 U.S. Women’s Amateur.
First lineup of the year for the Cougar Classic this week! #WeAre #PSUWGOLF pic.twitter.com/EDShQW4J6v
— Penn State Women’s Golf (@PennStateWGolf) September 8, 2024
- COURSE OVERVIEW
Ranked as the second-best course in South Carolina and the 99th best in the United States by Golf Digest, Yeamans Hall is a difficult par-71, 6,269-yard Seth Raynor designed course. Referred to as “a time capsule in Charleston” the course was built in 1925.
Don’t let the modest course yardage fool you into thinking this is a short course, as several drives must be played into upslopes which afford little forward ball momentum. Nearly half the holes move up and down over 15 feet.
From top100golfcourses.com: Yeamans Hall enjoys just about the firmest playing conditions of any course on the eastern seaboard of the United States and it is blessed with wide, tree-lined fairways and greens which are a trademark of their designer.
THE FIELD
This year’s field consists of 17 teams including two in the top-15 of the WGCA preseason poll with Auburn (No. 6) and LSU (No. 13) while Georgia and Georgia Southern are receiving votes.
Penn State and Maryland are the lone representatives of the Big Ten.
Ole Miss, Florida, Miami, NC State, Tennessee, Furman, Georgetown, SMU, Boston College, Virginia Tech and the host College of Charleston round out the field.
The Nittany Lions will be paired with Virginia Tech and Tennessee for the first two rounds on Monday with an 8:30 a.m. shotgun start. The final round on Tuesday will feature an 8:45 a.m. shotgun.
Live scoring for the 20th annual Cougar Classic will be available HERE!
NEXT UP
Penn State returns to Happy Valley for the 47th annual Nittany Lion Invitational next weekend.