Chats With Chessey, episode 2

The second installment of Chats with Chessey is now up!  She asks her coaches and teammates questions about who is "most likely" to do certain things.  For an inside look at the Lady Vols click here!!

Chats with Chessey

Sophomore Chessey Thomas has come up with a new feature for our team called "Chats with Chessey".  Every so often she will be interviewing someone in the Tennessee family and we will post those interviews everywhere!  Chessey is from Spokane, Washington and is majoring in communications.  Based on her first interview with new assistant coach Marci Turner, I think she will be great!  Click below to view the first episode!

Chats with Chessey

New Assistant Coach!

I am so excited to announce that I have hired Marci Turner as our assistant coach.  Marci was a great student and player for the University of Tennessee and will be a great addition to our program!  Read on to find out more about her...


KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Former Tennessee Lady Vol standout Marci Turner has been named as the new Tennessee assistant women's golf coach, as announced by head coach Judi Pavón.

"I am very excited about adding Marci to our coaching staff," Pavón said. "She was one of the best players ever during her career at UT. Her experience will definitely help us, both on the golf course and in recruiting."

Turner, who played for the Big Orange from 2004-2008, returns to Rocky Top after earning her Master's of Science degree in Recreation and Sport Administration from Western Kentucky University. She has served as the director of the Monroe County Family Wellness Center in Tompkinsville, Ky., since June.

After wrapping up one of the finest careers in Lady Vol golf history, Turner played on the Duramed FUTURES Tour from November 2007 until December 2009. She earned fully exempt status for both the 2008 and 2009 season, finishing 24th and eighth respectively at the FUTURES Tour Qualifying Tournament.

While at Tennessee, Turner garnered All-America honors five times: three times from Golfweek and twice from the National Golf Coaches Association. She was also recognized with several All-Southeastern Conference laurels, including first-team honors in 2006 and 2007.

Turner served as team captain for the Lady Vols from 2006 to 2008. She still holds the UT record for low round (64), most career rounds (133) and career rounds of par or better (36).

She graduated from Tennessee in 2008 with a degree in Plant Sciences, concentrating in turfgrass management.

Mack and Jonnie Day Practice Facility!!

Our facility is AWESOME and I just got some great photos of it, so here they are!

Big Break Ireland!

Tomorrow, September 20, the Big Break Ireland airs!  I am so excited to watch former Lady Vol Nicole Smith on the show!  Nicole was a great player for the Lady Vols during her 4 year career and the outspoken Californian will be fun to watch on the show!

Click here to read a great article about Nicole and her career at Tennessee.

Good Luck Nicole, we'll be watching!

Cougar Classic!

We started our season at the Cougar Classic this week in Charleston, SC.  We played well, but finished 7th, which wasn't quite what we wanted.  Erica finished 2nd at -9,  Chessey shot 70 in the final round and freshman AJ Newell shot 71 on the final day!  It was a good way to start off the season as everyone played solid.  We'll work on a few things and get ready for the Fall Preview next week!

Time to Get Started!!!

Qualifying is in the books and the lineup is set for our first tournament, the Cougar Classic.  After almost 3 weeks of school, 5 rounds of qualifying, photo day and the first football game we are ready to compete!

Here are the players:

Erica

Chessey

AJ

Kaitlyn

Sara

These girls played great in qualifying and we are looking forward to a great first good tournament!

Unfortunately Nathalie has had her hand in a cast for 3 weeks and a brace for one, with one more to go.  Hopefully she will be back on the course soon too!

2011-2012 Schedule

Finally our 2011-2012 has been finalized and approved! It's a very strong schedule and will be a great test for our team. We have an awesome team next season, so we should be able to handle it!

Cougar Classic presented by Piggly Wiggly
Charleston, SC
Sept. 11-13

Fall Preview
Nashville, TN
Sept. 23-25

UNC Tarheel Invitational
Durham, NC
Oct. 7-9

Mercedes Benz SEC-Pac 12 Challenge
Knoxville, TN
Oct. 21-23

Darius Rucker Intercollegiate
Hilton Head, SC
March 2-4

LSU Classic
Baton Rouge, LA
March 9-11

Maui Spring Invitational
Maui, Hawaii
March 26-27

Bryan National Collegiate
Greensboro, NC
April 6-8

SEC Championship
Fayetteville, AR
April 20-22

NCAA Regional
TBD (Penn State, Ohio State or Colorado)
May 10-12

NCAA Championship
Nashville, TN
May 22-25

End of the Year Awards Banquet

We celebrated the end of a good season at Cherokee Country Club just before heading to Nationals. We presented the following awards:

Player of the Year - Erica Popson
"Carrie Cole" Effort Award - Kaitlyn Rohrback
Weight Room Award - Erica Popson
Leadership Award - Sara Monberg
Freshman Letter Awards - Katilyn Rohrback, Chessey Thomas
Sophomore Letter Awards - Leigh Henderson, Erica Popson, Sara Monberg
Junior Letter Award - Nathalie Mansson
Senior Gifts and Letter Awards - Lauren Spurlock, Rebecca Watson

NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP!

We just finished up the season at the NCAA Championship hosted by Texas A&M in College Station. It was a very good event and the Lady Vols had some highs and lows to end the season! We finished the tournament in 13th place, which was disappointing because after two rounds we were in 8th. On a high note Erica Popson was named to the West Region team and also was named a First Team All-American. Although not official yet, both Kaitlyn Rohrback and Sara Monberg will be named Academic All-Americans for their performance on the course and in the classroom. And Chessey Thomas saved her best for last, she shot a final round 68 for her lowest round of the season by 4 shots! We also celebrated Nathalie's 22nd birthday at Texas Roadhouse and they did a good job embarrassing her for us!

All of the players have headed home, so things are quiet on the Tennessee campus! Looking forward to a relaxing summer before we get back to work!

NCAA Regional, Lady Vols Second, Erica WINS Again!

We traveled across the country to the West Regional hosted by the University of Washington. The Lady Vols stepped up and got the job done finishing second in a tough regional field! Erica managed her 5th 1st place finish of the year - are you kidding me??
We also made a stop at IKEA which was a thrill for Sara and Nathalie!

After the redeye back to Knoxville, the girls finished up final exams and will compete for the National Championship hosted by Texas A&M! GO LADY VOLS!

SEC Awards

This week the Southeastern Conference announced their annual awards. The Lady Vols had THREE players named to All-SEC Teams!

Erica Popson - 1st Team
Nathalie Mansson - 2nd Team
Kaitlyn Rohrback - Freshman Team

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

VOLSCARS

This week the Athletic Department held the Volscars, our version of the Oscars! It's a formal, fun filled awards show, complete with an orange carpet! The women's golf team won our first ever Volscar with Erica winning Female Rookie of the Year! Way to go Erica!

Other golf nominations were:
Lauren Spurlock - Big Orange Award
Sara Monberg - Miss Tennessee
Judi Pavon - Women's Coach of the Year
Catherine Johnson - Support Staff

ERICA SEC CHAMPION!!! WOW!

OMG, wow! Erica Popson WON the SEC Championship! You might remember she tied for first last year and lost on the second hole of the playoff. Well, she didn't let that happen this year! She fired 66-74-70 to hold of the nation's #1 player (Marta Silva - Georgia) and win by one stroke. It was an exciting finish and Erica showed a lot of poise. With two holes to play, she had a two shot lead. On 17, the par 3, she hit her shot to about 40 feet and Marta just inside her to 30 feet. Erica missed her birdie putt and was left with about a 5 footer for par. Well, Marta made her birdie to shave the lead to one. Erica was nervous, but calmed herself and hit the 5 footer in the middle of the hole. On 18 Erica hit the green just behind the hole. Her birdie putt lipped out, but she tapped in for par and the win. The rest of the team didn't fare quite as well. After a terrific first day round of 5 under par we slipped in rounds 2 and 3 and ended up 6th.

Lady Vols WIN BIG, Nathalie WINS too!

Coming off a one shot loss at the Bryan the Lady Vols earned redemption by winning the Rebel Intercollegiate in a big way! We won by 30 strokes with Erica and Nathalie finishing in a tie for first. They headed out for a playoff and I have to say as a coach, that was a hard few holes. I was so proud that two of my players tied for first, but knowing that at the end of the playoff one was going to be very happy and one very sad was tough. Nathalie ended up winning on the third playoff hole to get her first victory of the season! Everybody had a great week, Sara finished 6th, Kaitlyn 11th and Chessey 12th. On to the SEC Championship...

Erica WINS, Lady Vols Second

After a solid 3rd place finish at LSU and a week off for spring break, the Lady Vols turned in a good performance at the Bryan National event in Greensboro, NC. Erica won by one stoke and the team finished second. Unfortunately we lost by one shot, so we didn't feel great about it, but it was a solid tournament. We played in 36 degrees all day the final round and competed tough all the way through. That's all we can ask for!

New Orleans for All-State Sugar Bowl Championship

We played last weekend in New Orleans and got off to a shaky start for the spring season. We had some good rounds, but needed to get that first tournament under our belt to see where we need to improve. It was Mardi Gras season in New Orleans, so we got to see a parade and had a King's cake at our tournament dinner. Sara found the baby, so she will be baking for us next year! We also participated in a junior golf clinic after the practice round. So although, we didn't finish the way we wanted, it was a good trip!

On the Road Again!

Here we go again!! Tomorrow we head to New Orleans to play in the All-State Sugar Bowl Championship hosted by Tulane. Despite the snowy winter, the team has looked great in practice! I am so impressed with their hard work and dedication to get themselves ready to play. We start Sunday and play through Tuesday, follow us on Golfstat, look for those red circles around the birdies!

GO LADY VOLS!!

Gearing Up for Spring!!

Sorry it's been so long since I've posted! What a slacker I have been. Had a great holiday and a happy new year and now am back to work along with the team getting ready to have a great spring! We have had some pretty poor weather this winter, with a nice day sprinkled in here and there, but the Lady Vols have been awesome at getting out and WORKING! It will pay off this spring!

I got this great pix of downtown Knoxville from our hotel during the Mercedes, so I wanted to post it to remind us of better weather ahead!