Lady Bucs Look to Stay on Top

Tuscaloosa- The Shelton State women's golf team looks to stay atop the mountain after bringing home the schools first NJCAA Division II National Championship last spring. 

Head coach Chris Sanford sees the expectation as a welcome challenge. With only two returners from last year's team, he says the freshman class is eager to make their mark on the program. 

"Motivation hasn't been an issue," Sanford said. "The freshman class wants to continue the success and win their championship just as much as the sophomore class wants to repeat."

The Lady Bucs won the National Championship last year in just the second year of its existence, while it might have surprised some, the fast track to success was not a surprise to Sanford. 

"We really wanted to start the program a year earlier, but a late start made it nearly impossible to find enough players to field a team," Sanford added. "We took a full year to recruit, which led to not only high-level players, but the depth needed to build a championship level program. 

"The ability to bring five players back in year two with the experience they had, coupled with freshman talent, it created a challenging environment where the top five players were different nearly every tournament."

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After a strong Fall showing including a few breakout performances, Sanford sees a path to another championship. 

Winning four of the five fall tournaments, the ladies hold the number overall ranking heading into spring. 

"The freshman have exceeded expectations this fall and the returners have been strong, allowing us to put ourselves right back in contention," Sanford said.  

"The sophomore class (Sawyer Hobbs and Katie Hallmark) have done a great job leading the way and being steadying influence throughout the fall."

The new faces for the Lady Bucs include Emma Bark (Trussville), Katie Brannon (Dothan), Riley Fritz (Cape Coral, Fla.), Addison Davis (Paragould, Ark., and Kelsey Mason (Vancleave, Miss.)

"They have put themselves in a place to contend for a national championship, but we have to focus on tournament one. There are some really good teams in our state and across the nation, so every tournament matters and building consistency across the Spring will be huge for making a run down the stretch," said Sanford.

The NJCAA DII National Championship will be hosted in Tuscaloosa, at Ol' Colony Golf Complex, the home course of the Lady Bucs, the next three years.

While playing the championship at home is nice, Sanford knows it doesn't guarantee anything.

"In golf, nothing is given and we are focused on the process of winning, not necessarily the results."

The Lady Bucs kick off the spring season on February 8, as they travel to Lake City, Fla., to play in the Florida Gateway Invitational.