WGolf at Badger Invite 2023

The Uprising: USF Women's Golf Setting the Bar Higher

January 11, 2024

Joey Johnston Joey Johnston Athletics Senior Writer

The USF women's golf team believes it's positioned for national prominence following a fall season that included a quartet of top-four finishes, including a championship at Wisconsin's Badger Invitational, and a No. 33 ranking.

"I don't think any coach is ever going to tell you they're completely satisfied,'' Bulls coach Erika Brennan said. "But we genuinely felt like we were in a position to win every time we teed it up.WGolf Badger Graphic 23

"The next step is finding a way to do that each time out, to consistently be at the top of the leaderboard after 54 holes. We don't actually talk about winning. When you put too much pressure on that outcome, especially in a game where you can't control all the variables, it raises expectations and pressure. But if we take care of the processes that work for us, the things we can control, the results will follow. And that's what is happening.''

For the Bulls, the positive fall results come off last spring's breakthrough, when USF earned the program's first NCAA Regional bid in 11 years.

"We were happy to get to nationals, yes, but we are raising the bar,'' senior Melanie Green said. "We are building off that to the point where we want to be one of the top teams. I don't think there are any limits on what we can do.

"We have great team chemistry. We're very comfortable with our preparation. We can't wait for the spring.''

Green, the American Athletic Conference Women's Golfer of the Month for September and October, had a pair of runner-up finishes, including the finale at Miami's Hurricane Invitational, where she fired a 10-under-par 206 and finished under par in all three rounds. Green also had an 8-under 64 in the second round Glass City Invitational at Toledo. She enters the spring as the No. 24-ranked player in the country.MG National Ranking

Freshman Emma Falcher had a pair of top-10 individual finishes, tying for seventh in the Dale McNamara Invitational at Broken Arrow, Okla., and finishing a solo seventh at Miami. Her best round was a second-round 66 at Toledo.

Veteran Leonor Medeiros also had two top-10 finishes, including fifth at Wisconsin and tied for 10th at Toledo. Medeiros fired five sub-par rounds, paced by her second-round 68 at Toledo.

Alyssa Montgomery, a graduate transfer from Virginia Tech, was tied for 10th at Toledo and saved her best for last, a third-round 68 at Miami.

Veteran Alizee Vidal tied for 10th at Wisconsin and was paced by a pair of 72's in her first two rounds.

Brennan said the lineup's two newcomers, Falcher and Montgomery, have made a seamless transition.

"We really like our balance,'' Brennan said. "We have a program where being authentic is celebrated. Each student-athlete gets to come as they are. When you get to the place where everyone is accepting of each other, no matter what, that's where the magic happens.

"Emma came in as a freshman and nobody told her she was a freshman. She played like a veteran, which was awesome. But she is very mature, very intuitive, very insightful. So she's just going to take off and play. Alyssa comes in with loads of collegiate tournament experience, so there's the natural addition of maturity and depth. We've learned that we can count on them both.''WGOlf Fall 23 recap

Brennan said her players, after downshifting during the holidays, are ready to accelerate and show their prowess.

"There's no shortcut for repetition in this sport,'' Brennan said. "It's tiring. It's exhausting. It's so much monotony and you've got to really love it. Fortunately for us, we've got a lot of girls who really love it.''

"It's fun to think about how far we have come and what could be ahead for us,'' Green said. "We have the potential to accomplish so much. But what we do really well is stay as present as possible. Just stay in the present moment with great warmups, great routines. That will carry us where we need to go. If we continue to put it all together, there's no limit on how good we can become.''

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