GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- The Tusculum University women's golf team will compete at the 2024 South Atlantic Conference Championship this Sunday through Tuesday (Apr. 14-16). The three-day, 54-hole tournament is being held at the par-71, 5,935-yard layout at the Country Club of Salisbury and hosted by Catawba College.
The SAC Championship returns to Salisbury for the first time since hosting the inaugural women's league tournament in 2000 which was won by Tusculum.
This year's 13-team field includes two nationally-ranked programs including two defending SAC champion Anderson University (#7 in NCAA II) as well last year's runner-up Wingate University (#16 in NCAA II).
The winner of the SAC Championship will earn an automatic berth to next month's NCAA Division II Regional in Cleveland, Tennessee.
The Pioneers, who are coached by second-year skipper Hunter Chandley, have recorded four top-5 finishes as a team, including the championship at the Agnes McAmis Memorial.
Leading the Pioneers into this week's competition is sophomore Reagan Padilla. The Gallatin, Tennessee product boast one of the best stroke averages in the league averaging 75.68 per round, which is currently the second-lowest in school history.
Padilla has finished in the top-20 in all nine events this year which includes five times in the top-five with medalist victories at the King Invitational and the Converse Spring Invitational. She finished runner-up at the McAmis Memorial and fourth at the St. Simons Intercollegiate as well as the Cherokee Valley Spring Bash. She also tied for fifth place honors at last fall's Patsy Rendleman Invitational which was held at the Country Club of Salisbury.
At last year's SAC Championship, Padilla posted a three-round score of 229 including a final round 73 to tie for 16th.
TU freshman Anna Ahonen (Jyvaeskylae, Finland) is second on the roster with her 78.58 scoring average. She logged three-top-20 finishes in her rookie campaign which includes a season-best sixth place showing at the McAmis Memorial. She posted three rounds in the 70s at the Rendleman Invitational as she posted 77-75-77=229, good enough for 12th place.
Senior Emilie Bergh-Jacobsen (Baerum, Norway) is third on the roster with her 83.23 scoring average which includes a pair of top-20 finished, both coming in the past three weeks. She tied for 16th place at last week's Cherokee Valley Spring Bash and placed 18th at the McAmis Memorial. She logged her lowest 54-hole total in last fall's Rendleman Invitational with 81-79-80=240. She tied for 41st place at last year's SAC Championship.
Sophomore Lindsay Self (Lake City, Florida) has an 84.45 stroke average, which is an almost five shot per round improvement tally. She finished runner-up at last month's McAmis Memorial which included a career-best 76 in the final round. She also placed 25th at the King Invitational and 28th at last week's Cherokee Valley Spring Bash. Self will be looking to improve on last year's 54th place showing at the SAC Championship.
Senior Adrienne O'Brien (Salem, S.C.) has competed in eight events this year and has an 87.21 stroke average. She finished 29th at the McAmis Memorial and 40th at last fall's Rendleman Invitational. At the 2023 SAC Championship event, she tied for 39th place with 79-81-82=242.
The Pioneers won the first two SAC Women's Golf Championships held by the league in 2000 and 2001. Tusculum finished runner-up at the 2013 and 2017 league championships.