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With the regular season coming to a close at their last event, the Georgia State women’s golf team is now prepping for their postseason, beginning with the upcoming Sun Belt Conference championship.
The Panthers last event was the 23rd annual John Kirk Panther Intercollegiate at Eagle’s Landing Country Club where they shot a final round 306 to finish the 54-hole event at 59-over which was good enough for ninth place. The Panthers were led by freshman Jemima Gregson who shot a final round 74 and finishing the event at 8-over par, good enough for a ninth place individual finish. Head coach Cathy Mant had nothing but praise for the freshman.
“I’m really proud of the way Jemima is playing. She has stepped up to the challenge as a freshman and is only getting better.” Coach Mant said, according to Georgia State Communications.
To have true freshman come in and produce right away is a blessing, but for one to come in and not only produce but excel is extremely rare, and that’s exactly what Gregson did over the course of the season. The John Kirk Intercollegiate was her second top 10 finish and her fifth top 25 finish in her last nine events.
Even though Jemima Gregson led the way, multiple other golfers on the team experienced success this season too. Paula Zambarte, Julie Lied, and Solene Le Coz each had one top 25 finish. Yasemin Sari, sophomore from Kadenbach, Germany, has three top 25 finishes in nine tournament appearances, and she is the only member of the team to record a score in the 60s this season. Sari shot a final round of 68 at the Edwin Watts/Kiawah Island Spring Classic back in March to finish tied for 18th. Coach Mant was very proud of her and the whole team’s performance.
“Overall, I am really pleased with the way everyone played today,” Coach Mant said, according to Georgia State Communications. “Yasemin played extremely well and really stepped up in a big way. Even with a little stumble at the end, she still came back and birdied her final hole.”
Up next for the Georgia State women’s golf team is their biggest event of the year, the Sun Belt Conference Championship. The Sun Belt Conference Championship will take place April 17-19 in Miramar Beach, Florida. Coach Mant is very confident in her team after everything she has seen this season, and especially after the John Kirk Panther Intercollegiate.
“We had too many big scores that derailed a chance of shooting a really good score,” Mant said, “But I think the team sees that if we do certain things, we will have a chance at the conference championship.”
The winner of the Sun Belt Conference Championship gets an automatic bid to NCAA regional play. If the Panthers can make it to NCAA regional play, they get the opportunity to compete for a spot at the NCAA Championship in Eugene, Oregon. The best of luck to the Panthers from here on out.
