On February 24-25, the Union University Women’s Golf Team competed in the Low Tide Intercollegiate golf tournament in Charleston, South Carolina.
The tournament took place at the Dunes West Golf Club. The Lady Bulldogs ranked sixth of the 14 teams that competed in the tournament with a total team score of 940. The teams that competed –starting with the team that finished first, ending with the team that finished fourteenth–were Limestone University, University of North Georgia, Catawba College, Erskine College, Coker University, Union University, Davenport University, Lenoir-Rhyne University, Belmont Abbey College, College of Coastal Georgia, UNC Pembroke, Newberry College, Edward Waters University and UVA Wise. Brooklyn Verdugo, a junior business administration major, finished thirteenth overall with a score (over the three rounds) of 229.
The Lady Bulldogs faced some adversity before this tournament as the weather conditions in Jackson, Tennessee were not favorable for outdoor activity. Between the snow and high winds, the Lady Bulldogs had limited practice time, as well as only having a 9-hole round for qualifiers.
“I think golf’s an interesting one because you’re not anywhere near your teammates typically. I mean, you might see them on tee boxes, or watch them finish a hole on the green, but you’re not with them like other sports,” McKinnley Korte, senior athletic training major, said. “But I think our team does a really good job, like when we see our team across the course, we’ll kind of check in, give a thumbs up or down, wave hi, that’s the way we support each other on the course”.
The Lady Bulldogs will strive to continue to build each other up and improve over the next six weeks in preparation for the conference tournament in April, playing two more tournaments between the Low Tide Intercollegiate and the Gulf South Conference tournament. The women’s golf team has overall performed well in tournaments this season, with a top finishes in three tournaments in the fall, including winning the King University Invitational in September of 2024. Their hopes are to improve and play well, all while trying to land a spot in the regional tournament.
“My expectations are that we will really just get better,” Andy Rushing, tenth year head coach of the Union University women’s golf team said. “Once the weather breaks, we can really get out there and get after it in the way we want.”
Rushing said that reaching for the regional tournament is doable, but the team will need to perform at a high level in their next two tournaments as well as perform well at the conference tournament.
“I think that they need to devote every waking hour to their short game, which is where you score, but also where you lose strokes. Watching the teams that beat us, they were really good around and on the green,” Rushing said. “We have girls that hit the ball good enough to compete at high level division two. It’s not our striking or our ability, its our skill. Ability is kind of God given or it can be developed, but skill is how you will use your ability. That’s the way I define it”.
Rushing believes that the Lady Bulldogs have the abilities to compete at a high level, and can make the regional tournament if they can be in contention in their next two conference tournaments. They’re next tournament is in Desert Palms, California and is a non-conference tournament on March 13-14.