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WGOLF takes SSAC Coach, Player and Freshman of the Year honors
COLUMBUS, Ga. – After successfully completing its
ascent to the nation’s No. 1 ranking several weeks ago, there
was little doubt that there would be plenty of hardware coming the
way of the Shorter University women’s golf team.
That assumption came true on Monday – and in a big way.
Head coach Greg Owens has been named Southern States Athletic Conference Women’s Golf Coach of the Year, sophomore Greta Lange the SSAC’s Women’s Golf Player of the Year and Lisa Persson the league’s Women’s Golf Freshman of the Year as announced by the conference on Monday at the SSAC Tournament in Columbus.
It is the first respective award for all three individuals, who each helped the Lady Hawks become the first athletic team in Shorter history to achieve a No. 1 national ranking.
“These honors are so important to the program,” said Owens, whose Lady Hawks have four tournament titles in 2010-11 and have yet to finish worse than runner-up in all 10 events they have entered this season.
“This shows that Shorter is committed to athletic excellence across all 21 sports and that our Athletic Director [Bill Peterson] is committed to putting the best teams on the playing field for every team,” the coach added. “The Coach of the Year honor is really a reward to the girls for their hard work. Good players make a good coach and these girls are extremely hard working and dedicated to improving their game every day.”
Shorter’s strength lies in its depth, but the unquestionable heart and soul of the young Lady Hawk roster is Lange, a 2010 NAIA and PING All-American that has served as the epitome of consistency for Shorter this season.
Just a sophomore, Lange has a chance to become the program’s most decorated golfer of all-time, having already claimed NAIA National Golfer of the Week honors earlier this year.
“Greta has matured in her game very quickly from freshman to sophomore,” Owens said of the Bremen, Germany, native, who, with two tournament wins this season, is ranked No. 1 in the country on par 4s, par 5s and strokes under par per round and No. 3 on par 3s.
“Greta manages the course much better and eliminates wasted shots,” Owens continued. “She is such a happy person and shares that joy with the entire team. She is not shy about letting everyone know that strong team chemistry helps her play better.
“She works so hard on all aspects of her game and even though she is dedicated to being the best golfer she can be, she still manages to maintain a 4.0 grade point average.”
Persson, who joined Lange on the All-SSAC team as the league’s top rookie, has made an immediate impact with the Lady Hawks.
The Jonkoping, Sweden, native made waves across the country by winning the prestigious NAIA Preview in the fall – the tournament features a slew of top-ranked teams and is the premier NAIA fall tournament – and finished fourth at the SCAD Invitational in Shorter’s last outing before the SSAC Championships.
“Lisa has the ability, regardless of what may be going on around her, to focus completely on her game and because of that, she makes very few mistakes,” said Owens. “As she has become more comfortable with the grass, course conditions and course layouts in the United States, her game has become more solid.
“She had a big win in the fall at the NAIA Preview and continues to post top five finishes.”
Shorter also had two players honored as All-Academic performers.
Junior Petra Muller, the veteran of the Lady Hawks’ roster who has also enjoyed a solid season on the links, joined Lange on the SSAC’s All-Academic roster.
With a young group soaked in talent from the top to the bottom of the lineup card, Owens knows that in order for his team and the women’s golf program to take the next step, that depth will have to win the day.
“It is important for our four and five players to fight for every shot,” said Owens, whose team leads the SSAC Championships after Monday’s opening round by 13 strokes over Lee University. Shorter is a virtual lock for the 2011 NAIA Women’s Golf National Championship due to its top ranking. “For us to have a shot at winning the national tournament we have to have everyone post really strong rounds.
"Four average rounds will get us into the top 10, but to do something special, we need special performances from everyone.”
