Tennessee Volunteers women's golf

The Tennessee Volunteers women's golf team represents the University of Tennessee located in Knoxville, Tennessee. The Vols compete at the Division I level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The Vols currently rotate between 16 different golf courses located in the state of Tennessee. The current coach for the Lady Volunteer's is Diana Cantu who began in 2022. Until the 2022 season, the Lady Vols had appeared in an NCAA regional every year since the program began in 1993, and they were one of only 9 NCAA Division 1 teams to compete in every NCAA regional since the championship’s format was established.[2] Overall the Lady Vols have competed in 29 NCAA Regionals and 14 NCAA Championships.

Tennessee Volunteers women's golf
Founded1993
UniversityUniversity of Tennessee
ConferenceSEC
Athletic directorDanny White
Head coach
  • Women's: Diana Cantu (3rd season)
LocationKnoxville, Tennessee
CourseMack and Jonnie Day Golf Facility
NicknameLady Volunteers
ColorsOrange and white[1]
   
NCAA match play
2015
NCAA Championship appearances
1994, 1997, 2000, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2016, 2019
NCAA regional appearances
1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2023
Individual conference champions
Katharina Larsson 1994
Erica Popson 2011

History

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Despite the SEC beginning to sponsor women's golf in 1980-81, Tennessee did not sponsor the sport at the varsity level for 12 more years until 1992-93. The Lady Vols were the last team in the SEC to begin play except for Arkansas who had their first season in time for the 1995-96 season. All-time the Lady Vols are tied for 6th in the SEC (with Texas A&M and Alabama) for most appearances (14) in the NCAA Championships behind Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Auburn, and LSU.[3] Their best finish nationally came at the 2000 and 2015 NCAA Championships where both teams finished 5th overall. The program is one of only two at Tennessee (the other being women's tennis) to never win a conference title. The Lady Vols have finished 2nd three times at the SEC Championships (1993, 1999, 2006), and won two NCAA Regionals. They were one of only 9 nationwide to qualify for every NCAA Regional until they failed to do so in the 2022 season. Additionally, the women's golf team posted winning seasons each year from inception until 2013-14, and have only had 6 losing seasons ever.

Judi Pavón era

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Judi Pavón took over the helm of the Lady Vol golf team in 2000. She has led the team to 18 straight NCAA regional appearances and 11 appearances in the NCAA Championships.[4] From (2004-2007) Pavón lead the Lady Vols to the final rounds of the NCAA Championships. One of the best seasons in program history was in 2005 when they won the 2005 NCAA West regional and finished 6th at the NCAA Championships. In the 2006 season they won the NCAA East regional and finshied tied for 13th at the NCAA Championships. The Lady Vols had another record setting season in 2015, when they finished 5th at the NCAA tournament tying a program record.[5] They would return to the NCAA Championships in 2016 and in 2019. Pavon retired and was replaced by former Maryland head coach and lady-vol player from 2006-2010, Diana Cantú.[6]

Diana Cantú era

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Before coming to Tennessee, Cantú served as head coach of the Maryland Terrapins for seven seasons. There, she earned Big 10 coach of the year honors after taking the Terrapins to their best ever finish at the Big 10 Championships (2nd) and their first ever NCAA Championship appearance in 2021.[7] In her first season as head coach (2021-2022), the Lady Vols struggled to a 41-95-2 record and an 8th place SEC finish. Despite advancing to match play for the first time at SECs, the year ended with the Lady Vols failing to qualify for NCAA Regionals for the first time in program history.[8] In Cantú's second season at the helm, she led the Lady Vols to an 11th place finish at the SEC Championship and back to the NCAA Regionals as a #7 seed.[9]

Yearly record

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Sources[10][11][3]

Season Coach Overall Conference Conference
Championship
NCAA
Regional
NCAA
Championships
Won Lost Tie % Won Lost Tie %
Southeastern Conference
1992–1993 Linda Franz 105 41 4 .700 34 14 .708 2nd (611) T–8th (936)
1993–1994 Linda Franz-Cook 119 44 .730 36 8 .818 4th (902) 5th (938) 12th (1258)
1994–1995 Linda Franz-Cook 85 62 1 .574 25 12 .676 5th (942) 8th (921)
1995–1996 Lori Brock 114 38 2 .740 23 12 .657 5th (618) 9th (931)
1996–1997 Lori Brock 147 32 0 .821 46 7 .868 6th (916) 2nd (944) 6th (1197)
1997–1998 Lori Brock 93 48 2 .650 32 13 .711 4th (919) 12th (927)
1998–1999 Lori Brock 91 56 1 .615 33 15 .688 2nd (905) T–13th (920)
1999–2000 Brock/Pavón 87 43 .669 45 20 .692 3rd (925) 4th (902) 5th (1206)
2000–2001 Judi Pavón 155 40 .795 36 9 .800 6th (897) 11th (926)
2001–2002 Judi Pavón 101 49 2 .664 25 18 .581 3rd (866) 10th (896)
2002–2003 Judi Pavón 116 46 1 .712 36 9 .800 3rd (911) 18th (948)
2003–2004 Judi Pavón 97 70 3 .571 27 20 2 .571 4th (882) 7th (918) 11th (1193)
2004–2005 Judi Pavón 142 43 7 .740 26 6 .813 T–4th (906) T–1st (889) T–6th (1187)
2005–2006 Judi Pavón 123 60 1 .668 32 17 .653 2nd (876) 1st (864) T–13th (1209)
2006–2007 Judi Pavón 145 55 3 .714 42 17 1 .708 3rd (886) 7th (893) T–17th (1236)
2007–2008 Judi Pavón 93 73 2 .554 17 28 .378 8th (931) 16th (929)
2008–2009 Judi Pavón 98 90 .521 25 28 .472 4th (881) 3rd (873) 17th (1237)
2009–2010 Judi Pavón 137 72 2 .649 36 19 .654 9th (887) 2nd (866) T–19th (1199)
2010–2011 Judi Pavón 132 61 1 .680 41 38 .519 6th (895) 2nd (876) 13th (1200)
2011–2012 Judi Pavón 114 71 4 .603 28 36 2 .440 11th (951) 4th (904) 19th (1200)
2012–2013 Judi Pavón 84 73 2 .528 22 37 .373 9th (929) 9th (929)
2013–2014 Judi Pavón 61 108 .361 13 35 .271 13th (921) 16th (942)
2014–2015 Judi Pavón 151 34 .816 31 10 .756 4th (878) 3rd (850) 5th (1212)
2015–2016 Judi Pavón 95 78 .549 28 29 .491 8th (896) 5th (912) 16th (885)
2016–2017 Judi Pavón 87 58 4 .584 21 21 1 .500 7th (863) 8th (890)
2017–2018 Judi Pavón 73 81 2 .468 14 30 2 .326 12th (918) 11th (878)
2018–2019 Judi Pavón 100 73 2 .571 11 23 .324 10th (897) 6th (876) 24th (950)
2019–2020 Judi Pavón 55 91 0 .377 3 16 .158 N/A N/A N/A
2020–2021 Judi Pavón 53 85 4 .373 33 66 3 .338 T–9th (853) 10th (882)
2021–2022 Diana Cantú 41 95 2 .304 8 34 2 .205 8th (887) Quarterfinals
2022–2023 Diana Cantú 74 84 4 .469 7 26 1 .221 T–11th (905) T–7th (863)
Total 3168 1954 56 .617 836 673 14 .554 0 SEC
Championships
29 Regional
Appearances
14 NCAA
Championship
Appearances

*Note: The 2019–20 season was suspended in mid-March 2020 and later canceled due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) global health crisis.

National honors

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Throughout the history of the Lady Vols golf program, 13 golfers have earned 29 All-America honors.[12]

WGCA All-Americans

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  • Abby Pearson – 1993
  • Katharina Larsson – 1994
  • Erin Kurczewski – 1998
  • Young-A Yang – 1999, 2000, 2001, and 2002
  • Violeta Retamoza – 2003 and 2005
  • Jessica Shepley – 2004
  • Marci Turner – 2006 and 2007
  • Nicole Smith – 2006
  • Nathalie Mansson – 2010
  • Erica Popson – 2011 and 2013
  • AJ Newell – 2015
  • Anna Newell – 2015 and 2016

Golf Week All-Americans

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  • Nicole Smith – 2007
  • Marci Turner – 2008
  • Nathalie Mansson – 2009 and 2010
  • Erica Popson – 2011 and 2013
  • Lucia Polo – 2015
  • Anna Newell – 2016

Individual honors

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32 Lady Vols have garnered All-SEC honors throughout the women's golf history including two SEC Player of The Year awards and three Freshman of The Year awards.[12]

SEC Player of The Year

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SEC Freshman of The Year

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Mack and Jonnie Day Golf Facility

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Mack and Jonnie Day Golf Facility course next to the Tennessee River.

Although the Vols men’s and women’s golf teams host their home matches at a variety of different courses in the state of Tennessee they have recently welcomed a new state of the art practice facility on campus where the team can practice all year round. The practice facility resides on a 28-acre lot across from the University's Medical Center and contains a 3-hole course plus putting green. The new facility opened in 2010 and was finished in 2019 with the Blackburn-Furrow Golf Clubhouse. The 8,300 square foot clubhouse features offices for both the men and women's teams, heated hitting bays for year-round practice, video training space, locker rooms, team lounges, over 1,200 square feet of outdoor deck spaces, and a virtual-putting green.[13]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "General Information". UTSports.com. June 14, 2017. Retrieved June 29, 2021.
  2. ^ "Lady Vols Qualify for NCAA Regional". utsports.com. Retrieved April 28, 2021.
  3. ^ a b "Division I Women's Golf Championships Records Book" (PDF). Fs.ncaa.org. Retrieved July 28, 2022.
  4. ^ "Judi Pavon". utsports.com. Retrieved June 8, 2018.
  5. ^ "Division I Women's Golf Championships Records Book" (PDF). NCAA. 2017. Retrieved June 8, 2018.
  6. ^ "Diana Cantu - Women's Golf Coach".
  7. ^ "Diana Cantu - Women's Golf Coach". University of Tennessee Athletics. Retrieved August 8, 2022.
  8. ^ "Tennessee Women's Golf Year-by-Year Archive". University of Tennessee Athletics. Retrieved August 8, 2022.
  9. ^ "Lady Vols Selected to Westfield Regional". University of Tennessee Athletics. Retrieved April 26, 2023.
  10. ^ "Tennessee Women's Golf Record Book" (PDF). utsports.com. 2021–22. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 3, 2021. Retrieved April 25, 2023.
  11. ^ "Sec Women's Golf Championship Results" (PDF). a.espncdn.com. April 14–18, 2021. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 11, 2022. Retrieved April 25, 2023.
  12. ^ a b "Tennessee women's golf – 2017–18 Record Book" (PDF). utsports.com. Retrieved June 7, 2018.
  13. ^ "Mack and Jonnie Day Golf Facility". Utsports.com. Retrieved July 28, 2022.
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  • SECSports.com – Official website of the Southeastern Conference.