GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- The Tusculum University women's golf team will open its 2024 fall season this week as the Pioneers travel to Greenwood, South Carolina for the Anderson / Erskine Fall Kickoff.
The two-day, 54-hole event is being co-hosted by Anderson University and Erskine College at The Links at Stoney Point and is being conducted this Monday and Tuesday.
Head coach Hunter Chandley, who is entering his third season at his alma mater, returns four letter-winners from last year's team that finished 10th at the South Atlantic Conference Championship.
Leading the charge this fall for the Pioneers is junior sensation Reagan Padilla. The Gallatin, Tennessee native established a new TU single-season record last year with her 75.40 scoring average. She finished in the top-20 in all 10 events last season, including a school-record eight times in the top-five. She claimed medalist honors at twice, finished runner-up at the Agnes McAmis Memorial and earned SAC All-Tournament honors by finishing third at the league championship. Her 54-hole total 220 at the SAC Championship was the second-lowest in TU history.
Padilla enters the season with a 76.86 career stroke average which is the fourth-lowest in Tusculum history. Her nine career top-five finishes are tied for the fifth-most ever by a Pioneer. The was named a Scholar All-American by the Women Golf Coaches Association (WGCA) and garnered NCAA Division II Academic All-District laurels by the College Sports Communicators.
Emilie Bergh-Jacobsen, a graduate student from Baerum, Norway, finished third on the team last year with an 83.76 stroke average which included three finishes in the top-25. She was also a WGCA All-America Scholar and earned the D2ADA Academic Achievement Award.
Lindsay Self, a junior from Lake City, Florida, appeared in all 10 events last year and posted an 84.44 stroke average. She finished runner-up at the McAmis Memorial with a career-low 80-76=156. She also tied for 25th in last year's season-opener at the King Invitational. She is a WGCA All-America Scholar and earned the D2ADA Academic Achievement Award.
Rounding out the group of returnees is Greeneville sophomore Lindy Carter. Carter qualified for five tournaments where she logged 12 competitive rounds and recorded a hole-in-one in her collegiate debut. She is a member of the SAC Commissioner's Honor Roll and the Athletic Director's Honor Roll.
Coach Chandley has added three newcomers to this year's roster including Delfin Filiz, Maylei Hildenbrand and Annabelle Mozingo.
Filiz, a sophomore from Belfast, Northern Ireland, played last season at Colorado State University – Pueblo where she was a member of the 2024 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Championship team.
Hildenbrand, a graduate from South Greene High School, won the 2023 Junior Tri-Cities Amateur Championship and was the 2023 Grassroots Media Player of the Year. She swept medalist honors at both the TSSAA District and Regional Tournaments.
Mozingo, a sophomore from Jacksonville, Florida, played last season at NCAA Division I UNC Asheville where she finished with an 86.33 scoring average. She was a member of the Big South Conference Presidential Honor Roll and the Dean's List.
FALL SCHEDULE
The Pioneers will play in four tournaments this fall beginning with this week's Anderson / Erskine Fall Kickoff. Tusculum will also compete at the King Invitational (Sep. 23-24), Upstate Intercollegiate (Sep. 30-Oct. 1) and The St. Simons Intercollegiate (Oct. 14-15).
