Season Preview: 2023-24 Women’s Golf

MILLIGAN, Tenn. (August 24, 2023) – The Milligan University women's golf team enters the 2023-24 campaign after a record-setting season that saw the Buffs claim a conference championship and the highest placement at the NAIA National Championship in team history.

Visual Preview

Milligan begins its fall season at the TPC Woodland Trails Women's Collegiate Invitational on Sept. 1-2.

2022-23 Season Review: The Buffs made their eighth NAIA National Championship appearance in the 12-year history of the program last spring. At the four-round national championship event, Milligan made the cut for the fourth time in team history and shot a round-low score (302) on the second day of the event to slide into the top 10. The Buffs went on to finish in ninth place, the best team finish in school history.

Milligan rallied on the final day of the NAIA Direct Qualifier/Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) Spring Championship to win the team's sixth AAC championship by six strokes.

The Buffs won five tournament titles in 2022-23 and set all-time program records for 18-hole and 36-hole low scores. Milligan spent the entire season ranked in the NAIA Top 25 Coaches' Poll for the second-straight year. The Buffs own the NAIA's ninth-longest active streak for women's golf with 20-consecutive poll appearances.

"It was exciting to watch last year's team continue to grow, improve, and take our program to that top-10 level," said head coach Tony Wallingford. "They put together some great team performances, with each player stepping up and contributing. Team depth was definitely our strength last year."

The Buffs bid farewell to Alayna Perryman, the program's only multi-year All-American and 2021 AAC Player of the Year, who earned her graduate degree last spring.

Key Returners: Milligan returns four everyday members of its lineup for the 2022-23 season.

"Obviously, we are excited to have four starters return for our 2023-24 season," said Wallingford. "Last year's schedule provided an excellent competitive experience that I hope we can continue to build on. All the trophies and accolades from last year are now behind us and the challenge will be for us continue to improve."

Junior Kate Castle became the fourth NAIA All-American in program history and the first player to earn all-tournament honors at the NAIA National Championship with a seventh-place finish. She set Milligan's single-round (-3, 69) and 36-hole (-1, 143) tournament records on her way to medalist honors at the AAC Fall Preview and was named the AAC Player of the Year.

"Kate's progress has been amazing to watch since she arrived as a freshman," said Wallingford. "Her work ethic is unmatched and she is simply reaping the benefits of her dedication."

Castle finished No. 13 in the final NAIA Golfstat individual player rankings and posted an average score of 76.00. She shot even-par or better four times, including a 71 to be the daily round two leader at the NAIA National Championship. Castle logged five top-five finishes and nine top-11 placements. She was one of three Milligan women's golfers to secure First Team Academic All-America honors from College Sports Communicators (CSC).

Junior Sarah Castle earned All-AAC Second Team honors last spring and ranked third on the roster with a 79.35 average tournament score and a No. 91 final Golfstat ranking. Sarah Castle closed the year with three-straight top-10 finishes ahead of the NAIA National Championships. She earned all-tournament honors at the Mountain Empire Intercollegiate with a third-place finish and tied for fourth at the NAIA Direct Qualifier/AAC Spring Championship. She carded Milligan's team-low round (77) on the final day of the direct qualifier.

Sophomore Mallory TeVrucht collected All-AAC Second Team laurels in her debut season with the Buffs. TeVrucht ranked fourth on the team with a 79.42 scoring average. She posted top-10 finishes in four events and claimed all-tournament honors at the Mountain Empire Intercollegiate. TeVrucht was rated as the No. 32 freshman and No. 115 player overall in Golfstats' final NAIA player rankings.

Senior Gabby Hammond, along with Kate Castle, Perryman and TeVrucht, played in all 29 of Milligan's tournament rounds last season. She finished the year with an average score of 80 and a Golfstat ranking of No. 103. Hammond fired a 71 at the East Tennessee Collegiate, a 74 at the OUAZ Fall Invite and a 73 on the second day of the NAIA National Championship to help the Buffs to some of their lowest team rounds of the season in 2022-23. She notched four top-10 finishes, including an all-tournament showing at the NAIA Direct Qualifier/AAC Spring Championship. Hammond, a 4.0 economics and mathematics student earned First Team Academic All-America honors from CSC.

Graduate student Hannah Goodwin appeared in five tournaments last season. She recorded an average score of 82.10 and used a pair of sub-80 rounds to tie for 10th at the East Tennessee Collegiate. Junior Liz Miller made three appearances and sophomores Skye Perdue and Christa Woodard both appeared in four rounds last year.

Newcomers: Freshmen Evie Conner and Bailey McGaha join the squad for the 2023-24 season.

"Both Bailey and Evie have outstanding potential," said Wallingford. "We will be patient with these two as they transition from High School and junior golf to the college level, but are hopeful they will make a positive contribution early in their career."

Looking at the Schedule: The Milligan women's golf team has six events on its fall 2023 schedule.

The Buffs host the East Tennessee Collegiate at the Johnson City Country Club on Sept. 25-26. Milligan travels to the AAC Fall Preview at the Windermere Club in Blythewood, S.C. on Oct. 23-24.

The Buffs travel to TPC Woodland Trails in Indiana for Milligan's season opener on Sept. 1-2. The Music City Fall Invitational (Sept. 11-12), the SVU Knights Invitational (Oct. 9-10) and the Buzz Invitational (Oct. 28-29) round out Milligan's fall slate.

"As is always the case, our women will play an outstanding schedule that will feature competition vs. nationally ranked teams," said Wallingford. "Our first two tournaments, The Players Club at Woodland Trails Collegiate in Muncie, IN and the Music City Fall Invitational (Nashville) will immerse us immediately in quality competition and provide a good early season test. Again, our challenge will be to continue to improve as the season progresses with a goal of playing our best golf in April."

Last Word: "The bottom line for this team is that we must work incredibly hard to continue to improve in order to maintain our national ranking," said Wallingford. "Our accomplishments from last year mean nothing when we tee it up later this month. We'll have to earn our ranking every time out."