Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Women's Golf Looking to Rebound as 2015-16 Season Begins in Williamsburg
9/10/2015 4:54:00 PM | Women's Golf
But even though they did not see the benefits in the standings last season, there were some silver linings. Emily Larson in her second collegiate season turned out to be one of the most improved players in the Patriot League, chopping about 10 strokes off her average and vaulting herself from a backup to the team's No. 1 player and an all-conference performer.
Lindsay Dodovich got her first taste of collegiate golf, making the lineup for the Patriot League Championship after posting a final-round 76 at Kiawah Island earlier in the spring. After a very productive summer, head coach Kevin Jamieson thinks she could be set up to be this year's version of Larson in terms of improvement from year one to year two.
It was also an important year for Jen Lee, now a senior, who got to play a full season after missing a year due to shoulder surgery. Lee played in every event in the fall and spring, and she earned All-Patriot League honors with a team-best eighth-place finish in the conference championship at Navy.
In addition to the confidence-boosting seasons from those three returnees, the Bison also get senior Meghan Garanich back after she studied abroad last spring, and a potentially difference-making first-year class has arrived with impressive junior golf resumes.
The 2015-16 season kicks off this Sunday with the first of three rounds at the William & Mary Invitational at the Kingsmill Resort's Plantation Course. That will be the first of five fall tournaments over the next six weeks, as Jamieson looks to test his team right from the start.
“We will know pretty quickly what kind of team we have,” said Jamieson, who will host his annual fall invitational on Sept. 19-20 before taking his team to events at East Carolina, Princeton and Dayton. “We will see lots of good competition on some different types of courses, and that will help shape our practices for the spring. We will have a good idea of who can do what, and what we need to fix going into the spring. We are really excited for the spring and another chance to host the Patriot League Championship.”
Jamieson admits that last season was a bit disappointing, but he is already optimistic that not only is his team's scoring better, but so is the leadership.
“Last year was a down year for sure,” said Jamieson, “but this year there is a whole different feel. Losing that great senior class [of Lauren Bernard, Kasha Scott and Bridget Wilcox] not only left a gap because they were great players, but we lost that leadership and maturity. This year the upperclassmen have come back more mature in terms of their leadership and work ethic, and the freshmen are already fitting in. Everyone has a healthy respect for one another, and they are making a quiet push to get out of the cellar and show significant improvement.”
Lee and Garanich are the team's two seniors, and both are big pieces of that enhanced leadership.
“I am really excited to see what a full year of health does for Jen,” said Jamieson. “She had a very good summer, and I expect to see her in our lineup every week. Jen and Emily are our rocks, and we are counting on them to bring the youngsters along in terms of getting through practice rounds and the focus it takes to get through those grueling 36-hole days.”
“Meghan is studying to be a doctor, so after going abroad last spring and taking classes this summer, she is working on getting her timing back,” said Jamieson. “But she has been through the grind and is going to be a key part of our team leadership. We absolutely do not win the Patriot League Championship two seasons ago without her.”
Larson was the team's breakout performer of 2014-15. After seeing very little action as a freshman, Larson played in every tournament last season and led the squad with an 81.6 average. She posted a 77 at LPGA International and earned her first All-Patriot League citation with a T-10th finish at Navy.
“The question for Emily is whether she can make the next leap,” Jamieson pondered. “She lowered her average from around 90 to around 80, and now she is a captain and most likely the No. 1 player in our lineup. She has looked good so far, and she will keep getting better as the year progresses.”
Larson and Nicole Mischler are the team's two juniors. Mischler played in all but one tournament last year and also made her Patriot League Championship debut in the spring.
Dodovich is back after posting an 83.9 average as a freshman, the team's second-best mark behind Larson. She flashed her potential with that 76 at Kiawah in March, and then she wrapped up the year with a T-23rd finish at the conference championship.
“Lindsay might be our most dangerous player,” said Jamieson. “She is a long hitter, very strong, and has shown flashes of going low. She was our low qualifier in tough conditions, and we hope she can carry that momentum into the season.”
Jamieson is very high on his first-year class of Graysen Bright, Katie Childers and Eunbbie Kim. All three bring impressive credentials to Bucknell. Bright was a district champion while playing for Thomas S. Wootton High School in Maryland, and she was the MAPGA Junior Tour champion and Player of the Year after shooting 1-under-par 71 in the second round at Kingsmill's Woods Course.
“Graysen had a good summer and is a very strong player,” said Jamieson. “She is majoring in vocal performance at Bucknell and is a very gifted singer. I am excited to get a better look at her on the golf course as well. She has plenty of talent.”
Childers was a three-time state qualifier and an all-state player at Northville High School in Michigan. Her stacked junior resume includes a runner-up finish at the Golf Association of Michigan Junior Amateur and a third-place finish at a Hurricane Tour event at TPC Eagle Trace in Florida this past summer.
“Katie is really long,” Jamieson said of Childers' game. “She is probably our most technically sound player, and she probably comes in knowing the most about her own golf swing. She has a ton of tournament experience, and I would not expect her to be intimidated at all this year.”
Like Bright, Kim is also from the Washington, D.C., suburbs in Maryland and was runner-up at the district championships for Winston Churchill High School. She won the prestigious Bobby Bowers Memorial Tournament in Virginia and reached the quarterfinals of the Maryland Women's Amateur this summer.
“Eunbbie also has a great resume, and I am really excited to see what she can do,” said Jamieson. “She had a bit of a rocky qualifier, but she has a solid, steady game. She is a medium-length hitter, but she hits her hybrids and fairway woods extremely well, and she is an above-average putter.”
Jamieson will be taking Larson, Dodovich, Childers, Kim and Lee to William & Mary for the season-opener. The 54-hole event runs from Sunday through Tuesday at Kingsmill's Plantation Course. Bucknell will be up against Appalachian State, Eastern Kentucky, High Point, Longwood, UNC Wilmington, North Dakota State, Presbyterian, Radford, Seton Hall, Western Carolina and host William & Mary. The Bison will be paired with William & Mary and Radford in the first round.
Players Mentioned
