Cullowhee, N.C. – The Western Carolina women's golf team opens its 2020-21 schedule this Monday and Tuesday, Nov. 9-10 at the Mercer Invitational at the par-72, 6,218-yard Brickyard Golf Club in Macon, Ga. The practice round is scheduled for Sunday afternoon.
The 54-hole tournament will be contested over two days with 36 holes of competition on Monday with an 8 am shotgun start and the final 18 holes on Tuesday. WCU is slated to open on Hole No. 16 on Monday morning. It is the third-consecutive fall semester that WCU will conclude in Macon ending both the fall of 2018 and 2019 at Mercer's Idle Hour Collegiate.
Live scoring of the three-round event is
available online through GolfStat.com.
"We are so ready to compete – it's been a long time coming," said head coach
Courtney Gunter. "Our last competition date was back on March 3 at Kiawah Island, so the entire team is eager to get back out there and compete once again."
In addition to the Catamounts and the host Mercer Bears, the 10-team field also includes fellow Southern Conference competitors Chattanooga and ETSU. Also scheduled to compete are golfers from BYU, Coastal Carolina, Georgia Southern, Southern Mississippi, Troy, and Western Kentucky.
"Despite many teams being unable to compete this fall, the Mercer Invitational still has a very strong field. It will be a good test to see where we are as a team before entering the offseason and prepping for what is hopefully a very full spring schedule," Gunter said. "We are grateful to (AD)
Alex Gary and the entire WCU Athletics Department for the opportunity to compete this fall."
Through preseason qualifying, Gunter and the Catamounts set their five-golfer lineup for the season-opening event. Senior
Maya White and junior
Madison Isaacson, who ranked among the team's top three in scoring average a season ago, lead the squad into its first competition of 2020-21. Isaacson paced WCU with a 74.83 stroke average through seven events last season posting a trio of top-five finishes including winning the Judaculla Cup medalist honors. White averaged 77.28 over 18 rounds last season, placing in a career-best fourth-place tie at the Winthrop Fall Invitational in October 2019.
True freshman
Vanessa Campos will make her collegiate debut as the No. 3 seed for the Catamounts. The Rancho Viejo, Texas, product is just one of two freshmen on the WCU roster this year, joined by
Kayleigh Baker from St. Augustine, Fla. Campos had a highly successful prep career including winning all four of the Rio Grande Valley (RGV) tournaments in which she competed as a senior earlier this year before the COVID-19 stoppage.
Rounding out the scoring five are sophomore
Victoria Ladd and senior
Cameron Wood. Ladd competed in five events as a freshman, averaging 78.33 over 12 rounds. Wood competed just twice in 2019-20, posting her career-low round in the Judaculla Cup tournament. But, the Waxhaw, N.C., native has experience in 10 career tournaments and 27 total rounds, the second-most collegiate experience at WCU on the team's lineup.
"We've definitely had our share of setbacks this season, but we've treated them as opportunities. We've made the most of the extra time at home for much-needed rest after injuries and more time for solid practice to hone in our skills on and off the course," said Gunter.
Built in 1961, the host course – the Brickyard Golf Club – is located on the outskirts of Macon, Ga., and was formally known as the Riverside Golf and Country Club before being sold in December 2003. The par-72, 18-hole championship course can play at over 7,200 yards from the tips and was recognized as the 18th best golf course in Georgia by Golf Digest.
Keep track of everything related to Catamount women's golf and WCU Athletics through its social media outlets on Facebook (fb.com/catamountsports), Instagram (@wcu_catamounts) and Twitter (@catamounts, @CatamountWGolf), as well as video updates on the department's YouTube channel (CatamountSports).
