TAMPA, Fla (March 13, 2025) – The South Florida women's golf team heads to Augusta, Ga, this weekend, looking to continue their strong spring season at the Valspar Augusta Invitational, hosted by Augusta University. This will serve as a major benchmark for the team as it is the second to last tournament before the AAC Championships.
 
The Bulls have significantly improved their team performance this spring. After posting an average team score of 920.5 in the fall, they have lowered this mark by over 52 strokes to an impressive 868.
 
Leo Medeiros and Cherry Marley have been the backbone of this team all season and this has been on full display this spring. Medeiros has recorded two top-15 finishes this spring, placing seventh at the PDI and eleventh at the Westbrook Invitational. She has shot par or better in six of her nine rounds this spring. Cherry Marley has been dominant in her spring debut with the Bulls, posting two top-10 finishes and one top-20 finish. Marley has shot par or better in seven of nine rounds this spring while lowering her average from fall to spring by 20 strokes.
 
Perhaps the best story of the Bulls' spring campaign has been the emergence of Junior, Emma Kim. Kim, who did not play any tournaments in the fall, has not only been exceptionally consistent, but has improved every tournament. She improved her finishing position by 18 spots from the PDI to the Westbrook Invitational and most recently jumped up 20 spots to finish 31st at the Gator Invitational. This type of consistency is exactly what this Bulls team needs as the AAC tournament approaches next month.
 
The 13-team field consists of: Augusta, Coastal Carolina, Emory, Furman, Georgia Southern, Michigan, Michigan State (23), North Florida, Northern Illinois, South Florida, Texas Tech, Central Florida, Yale.
 
Coach Newell's Valspar Augusta Invitational lineup will consist of: Cherry Marley, Emma Kim, Leo Medeiros, Alice Webb and Valentina Bosselmann. Annabel Collis and Kenzie Heba will compete as individuals.
 
Follow the Bulls all weekend, here. Be sure to follow the Bulls on Instagram.
 
ABOUT USF WOMEN'S GOLF
Tampa native AJ Newell, a former LPGA Tour Player and NCAA All-American, was named head coach of USF women's golf by Vice President for Athletics Michael Kelly on June 3, 2024.
 
Newell will look over leadership of the Bulls' program following a successful three-year stint as assistant coach at the University of Michigan, where she helped lead the Wolverines to three-straight NCAA Regional appearances, a 2022 Big Ten title, and the 2022 NCAA Championship Finals.
 
 In the record-setting 2023-24 campaign, the Bulls won three times and finished in the top four in nine of 10 events. The three wins are the most in a season since four 2011-12. USF finished third in the American Athletic Conference Championship, which equals the best finish in the tournament in program history. In 2022-23 and 2023-24, the Bulls played in back-to-back NCAA Regionals for the first time since 2001-02. Senior standout Melanie Green, the AAC Conference Player of the Year in 2023-24, an all-conference performer in each of her four seasons, was named to the WGCA 2023-24 Division I All-American second team. Green qualified for the 2022 NCAA Regional as an individual and was named a 2023 All-American Honorable Mention. Green and the Bulls reached the NCAA Regional as a team in 2023, marking the program's first postseason appearance in 11 years. Follow @USFWGolf on Twitter for the latest information concerning the program.
 
- #GoBulls –