The Virginia women's golf team has come very far over the years, and in only four seasons, Coach Jan Mann and the current seniors have taken the program from its infancy to being a conference powerhouse.Mann, who has been with the No. 16 Cavaliers since the inception of the women's golf program four years ago, will be retiring at the end of the year and will be leaving the program in the hands of capable underclassmen.
In the first year of the program, the 2003-04 season, the Cavaliers placed in the top half of the field only twice out of eight tournaments. In one year, Virginia raised that figure to eight top half finishes out of 11 tournaments, including a 13th place showing at the national championships. Last year, the percentage got even better, as the Cavaliers recorded top half finishes in 11 out of 12 tournaments, including a second place performance at the ACC Championships and nine top-five finishes.
While Mann's efforts in developing this program are noteworthy, the six seniors on the roster also deserve credit for Virginia's past and present achievements. Rachel Smith and Leah Wigger have led the Cavaliers the past few years. Smith's career accomplishments include an 11th place finish in last year's ACC tournament, while Wigger was twice named an All- American. Lindsay Robinson, Sally Shonk, Ashley Mayo and Kira Mayo have also contributed all four years to make the Cavaliers a competitive team. Now that the program is established with talented underclassmen as well as seniors, Virginia has much more depth than in previous seasons. Having begun competitive golf as soon as they arrived at the University, rather than moving up in a program, the Virginia seniors have an advantage over seniors at other schools -- experience.
"Part of the attraction of coming to Virginia was being able to be on a new team, and being able to get that experience of playing," Wigger said. "A lot of times you won't be able to play until your second or third year and stay in the rotation. That experience has been a tremendous help for us to mature. We have good heads on our shoulders, and we are ready to get out there and have fun and take one day at a time."
Looking toward the future, Virginia's four underclassmen will be taking the reins next season. Junior Kristen Simpson and sophomore Carly Truitt have both gained valuable experience playing behind the seniors. Sophomore Jennie Arseneault, ranked 15th in the nation by Golfweek after the fall season, and Whitney Neuhauser, the only freshman on the roster, have both competed in Virginia's most recent tournaments. Neuhauser's score was the tiebreaker that gave the Cavaliers their first-ever tournament win in the Landfall Tradition in October.
Virginia has prepared itself to have a quality team even after this year's class graduates.
"I feel like we will be leaving an extremely strong team," Mann said. "We do have our first class graduating, but at the same time we have some very strong players right behind them. And we had a very successful recruiting year, so we have two individuals coming in next year that will really have an impact on the team."
The Cavaliers have not played in any tournament since last month's Wildcat Invitational, so the Cavaliers are hungry to get back to competition and return to their winning ways. Friday through Sunday, the Cavaliers will be in Baton Rouge, La. for the LSU/ Cleveland Classic Invitational.
"LSU is hosting the East regional, so there are quite a few nationally ranked teams that won't have the opportunity to play there," Mann said. "Once again, there is a very strong field that we are competing against. Having said that, this is a golf course that some of our players are familiar with, and for those that have played on it, it's a course they really like. I think the layout of the course is a good one and will give us a good opportunity to score."
At last year's LSU Classic, Arseneault posted her career-best 18-hole and 54-hole scores, as well as her best tournament finish, coming in 11th place. She also posted Virginia's best individual score at the Wildcat Invitational, leading Virginia with a 228, followed by Wigger and Smith, who shot 232 and 238, respectively. These three have been among the most consistent Cavaliers all season and will look to carry the team to a top finish in Baton Rouge.
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