GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- The Tusculum University women's golf team will be competing at the 2023 South Atlantic Conference Championship this week in Anderson, South Carolina. The three-day, 54-hole championship will be held at the par-72, 5,911-yard Cobbs Glen Country Club and hosted by Anderson University.
Twelve teams will be vying for the league championship, which will be contested with 18 holes on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. Four the of the 12 teams are listed under consideration in the NCAA Division II South Region rankings. Anderson is ranked fifth nationally in the WGCA Poll, Limestone is ranked 14th and Wingate comes in at No. 16. Those three are listed under consideration as is Carson-Newman.
The winner of the SAC Championship will earn an automatic berth to next month's NCAA Division II Regional in Gainesville, Georgia.
The Tusculum Pioneers, who are coached by Hunter Chandley, have recorded four top-10 finishes in their nine events including a runner-up finish at the Agnes McAmis Memorial and a third-place showing at the Christian Brothers Buccaneer Classic.
Senior Nilubol Panno (Phuket, Thailand) leads the Pioneers with her 76.09 scoring average, which is the fourth lowest in school history. She captured her fourth career medal at the Jekyll Island Intercollegiate last fall and has finished in the top-20 on seven occasions. Along with her win at Jekyll Island, she has three runner-up finishes at the King Invitational, the CBU Buccaneer Classic and the McAmis Memorial. She also tied for sixth at the Patsy Rendleman Invitational giving her five top-10 finishes.
She tied a school 36-hole record 141 to win the Jekyll Island Intercollegiate including a final round 69.
In her two previous SAC Championship appearances, she finished 31st at the 2021 championship with 81-84-78=243 and 22nd at last year's SAC Tournament with 80-74-79=233).
In her 26 career events, Panno has a 77.05 stroke average which is the third lowest by a Pioneer. Her 13 top-10 finishes are tied for seventh in the TU record book including her nine top-5 finishes (4th most in school history).
Freshman Reagan Padilla (Gallatin, Tenn.) is second on the team in scoring with her 78.59 stroke average. Padilla has finished in the top-10 on three occasions including third at the CBU Buccaneer Classic, sixth at the McAmis Memorial and seventh at the King Invitational in her collegiate debut. She has shot in the 70s on 13 occasions including a season-low 74, twice. Her 78.59 average is the fifth-lowest by a Tusculum rookie.
Junior Emilie Bergh-Jacobsen (Baerum, Akershus, Norway) is third on the roster with her 83.73 scoring average. She has finished in the top-50 four times including twice in the top-20. She tied for 18th at the McAmis Memorial and 19th at the CBU Buccaneer Classic. She carded three rounds in the 70s including a season-low 77 at Jekyll Island and in the final round of the McAmis Memorial.
Junior Adrienne O'Brien (Salem, S.C.) will be making her SAC Championship debut this week after finishing fourth on the team with her 86.27 stroke average. O'Brien finished ninth at the McAmis Memorial while carding a season-low 77 in the final round. She also finished 30th at the CBU Buccaneer Classic and 31st at the King Invitational.
Freshman Lindsay Self (Lake City, Fla.) rounds out the TU scoring with her 89.27 stroke average. She finished 30th at the McAmis Memorial and 35th at the CBU Buccaneer Classic.
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.
