Perryman, Hammond and Castle honored as WGCA All-American Scholars

CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. (July 6, 2023) – Milligan University women's golfers Alayna Perryman, Gabby Hammond and Kate Castle were honored as All-American Scholars by the Women's Golf Coaches Association (WGCA) on Thursday.

All three golfers were named to the College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-America At-Large First Team in June. Perryman finishes her career as a four-time All-American Scholar while Hammond is a three-time recipient and Castle earns her second nod.

To be tabbed as a member of the WGCA All-American Scholar Team, a golfer must maintain a 3.50 or better cumulative grade point average and participate in 50% of her team's competitions over the course of the 2022-23 season.

Perryman earned her MBA from Milligan with a 3.90 grade point average this spring. One of the most decorated players in program history, she is a two-year NAIA All-American, three-time All-Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) First Team pick and was the 2021 AAC Player of the Year. During her final season at Milligan, Perryman earned six all-tournament honors and was the medalist at the Northeast Tennessee Spring Shootout.

Hammond maintained a 4.0 average as an economics and mathematics major. She posted four top-10 finishes including an all-tournament showing at the NAIA Direct Qualifier/AAC Spring Championship. At the NAIA National Championship Hammond earned a top-40 individual finish. Hammond fired a two-under 71 (par 73) to match Milligan's then-single round record at the East Tennessee Collegiate.

Castle became the fourth NAIA All-American in program history this season when she earned Second Team All-America honors. A social work major with a 3.83 GPA, Castle was named the 2023 AAC Player of the Year. She set Milligan's single-round (-3, 69) and 36-hole (-1, 143) tournament records at the AAC Fall Preview. She collected All-AAC First Team honors and totaled seven all-tournament finishes over the course of the season.

Castle finished the season as the No. 13 player in the NAIA according to Golfstat's final 2022-23 rankings with an adjusted scoring average of 76.11. She earned all-tournament honors at the 2022-23 NAIA National Championship at TPC Deere Run with a seventh-place finish. Castle was the daily leader in round two (E, 71), led the national championship field with 13 birdies and finished six shots off the national champion.

In 2022-23, Milligan women's golf won the NAIA Direct Qualifier/AAC Spring Championship to clinch the program's eighth trip to the NAIA National Championship in 13 seasons. The Buffs made the cut at the NAIA National Championship for the fourth time and posted a ninth-place team finish, the best in school history.