On a roster loaded with talent, players can easily get lost in the shuffle. As an underclassman on the women's golf team, sophomore Whitney Neuhauser doesn't get much press, but she has nevertheless made her mark on the program.
Growing up in Charlottesville, Neuhauser grew up eating, sleeping and drinking Virginia athletics, as her mother, Susan, graduated from the Education School and her older sister, Jodi, rowed for the Cavaliers. Neuhauser, meanwhile, had already built up an impressive resume even before coming to the University. She was a top-10 recruit coming out of Monticello High School, where she was named 2005 VSGA Junior Golfer of the Year and won the 2005 Calloway Golf PGA Junior Series Championship.
"Playing at Monticello wasn't really what got me where I am today," Neuhauser said. "Playing well in individual tournaments in high school really built my confidence, and my game continued to improve."
As the lone freshman on the roster last year, Neuhauser impressed the team with her tireless work ethic for both athletics and academics. She participated in seven tournaments, including the ACC Championships and NCAA Regionals, and was named to the ACC Academic Women's Golf Team as well as the ACC Honor Roll in 2006-07. She also finished second among Virginia golfers at Georgia's Liz Murphy Classic and placed third at the University of Richmond's Spider Fall Invitational.? Her scoring average has dropped steadily throughout last year and the beginning of this year.
"Her teammates call her Jack Russell because she works so hard in the gym and on the course," women's golf coach Kim Lewellen said.
Neuhauser has already set lofty goals for herself this year.
"Individually, I'd like to be an All-American," she said. "I think that's attainable, because now that I've adjusted, I know what's expected of me in terms of academics and athletics."
She added that, as always, the team's goal is to win a national title.
"Everyone has been putting in a lot of effort to make that happen," she said. "You can see that everyone has that look on their face like they know we can win."
This weekend, the Cavaliers hope to move one step closer to that goal when they participate in the Lady Tar Heel Tournament in Chapel Hill, N.C. The team is coming off a fourth-place finish at the Tanagura Country Club's Topy Cup in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. That tournament featured both Japanese and American university teams, including the University of Denver and Nihon University. Junior Lene Krog, playing her first tournament for the Cavaliers, led the team with a 3-over 219. Neuhauser finished second among Cavalier golfers and 16th overall with a career-best score of 225.?
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