Alabama Athletics
After Solid Start to Season, Re-Tooled Crimson Tide Women's Golf Team Regaining Confidence
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama coach Mic Potter was probably sleeping a lot better after the first two events of the women’s golf 2019-20 season.
One never knows how a lineup is going to work until competition begins, and this academic year it was especially true of the Crimson Tide. With only a couple of fixtures from last season’s roster returning, and a pair of true freshmen being leaned upon to make immediate contributions, the coach had plenty of reasons for angst.
However, by October, he was feeling something very different.
“I’m very optimistic,” said Potter, who will take Alabama to its final fall event beginning Friday, the Landfall Tradition in Wilmington, N.C. “I think this is a great good of girls, who really want to do well. They’re really coachable. They want to learn.”
Specifically, Alabama opened the fall season at the prestigious Annika Intercollegiate at Royal Golf Club in Lake Elmo, Minn. It featured 11 ranked teams, giving it a sort of national championship-type feel in terms of top-level competition.
The Crimson Tide finished eighth after passing reigning national champion Duke and No. 6 UCLA during the final round.
It followed by placing second at the Schooner Fall Classic at Oklahoma, edged only by No. 2 Texas.
As early-season barometers go, both were good ones.
“It did a lot for our confidence,” Potter said. “We’re proving that we have the ability to hang in there with anybody, but we’re also learning that that we have to do a better job at putting, making sure we’re turning what should be pars into pars, not letting them slide and make bogey. It’s the little things that we’re capable of executing that we need to put a little more practice into.”
Leading the way for the Crimson Tide was Kenzie Wright, and the key word with her is just that, “leading.” The senior who qualified for the 2019 U.S. Women’s Amateur over the summer, arrived a year ago as a transfer from Southern Methodist thinking she might have a chance to compete for a national title.
Instead, she was one of the ones helping keep the depleted team together as it struggled through the schedule.
“Her actions in terms of being a team player, doing all the right things, working hard, speak louder than words, but she’s also a little more vocal than anyone we’ve had in the past,” Potter said. “I’m not a fan of having captains or anything like that, you’re always looking for someone to step up and be a natural leader regardless of their year in school. She really embodies that.
“She wants it to be as memorable of a year as she can for her, but she’s also close to all the girls and wants it to be memorable for them as well. As a coach I really appreciate the way Kenzie is and the way she looks at things. She’s almost like another coach on the team.”
Last season was a tough one for the Crimson Tide, with its two best players leaving early, plus the top talent on the roster subsequently opting not to return. Juwon Jeon, who was No. 6 in the Golfstat collegiate rankings and No. 9 in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Rankings heading into the NCAA Championships, turned pro early.
Consequently, Alabama quickly went from having a void in the lineup to a chasm, as the lineup was suddenly down to Wright, Angelica Moresco and a bunch of question marks.
“She’s one of the top players in Europe,” Potter said about the Italian, Moresco, who was on the 2017-18 SEC All-Freshman Team and could be poised for a breakthrough season. “I think she was second or third in qualifying at the British [Amateur] this year. She finished second in the Mediterranean Games. She’s been third in the European Am. She’s the 109-ranked amateur in the world.
“She’s capable. It’s going to happen soon. She needs a little more consistency in her putting. If she ever gets that she’s going to be very difficult to beat. She’s very consistent with her ball striking and is not afraid to shoot low. We just have to get some putts to go in for her.”
Still, with the only other returning players Carolina Caminoli (another Italian) and Mary Mac Trammel both coming off their freshmen years, the Crimson Tide needed immediate help and found some through the NCAA transfer portal.
Former UNLV player Polly Mack, a German with a very good technical background, and the first Rebel to earn both Mountain West Player and Freshman of the Year honors in the same season (2017-18), fit a big need.
“She was a huge addition for us,” Potter said. “She’s really talented. She’s long. She has a lot of desire.
“She brings a lot to the table for us.”
Meanwhile, the Crimson Tide landed a pair of top prospects as well.
Caroline Curtis played in the 2018 U.S. Amateur and for the 2018 Wyndham Cup Team. The Virginia state champion and Rolex All-American in 2017 was a three-time all-state selection and competed at the USGA Women's Four-Ball Championship in 2017.
“Caroline is very gifted athletically,” Potter said. “She’s really long. She has a high ball flight that allows her to stop it on greens. When they get here as freshmen the short game always needs some work, so we continue to work hard on that.
“If she can see herself being as a good as she really is, I think she’s not aware of her talents and maybe is a little too humble about it sometimes. She’s has physical gifts that are going to allow her to be a great player.”
Norwegian Emilie Øverås was a young talent who Alabama followed for three years as she put together a strong resume playing in Europe, including on the 2017 Norwegian Junior Team Championship and 2017 Norwegian Ladies' Team Championship teams playing for the Oslo Golf Club.
Øverås (pronounced OVER-ahs) enjoyed a second-place finish at the 2017 Girls British Open Amateur Championship and being quarterfinalist at the 2018 British Ladies Open.
“She knows how to play, and she knows how to compete,” Potter said. “I kind of always liked how she carried herself. She’s academically oriented. Her brother played at Coastal Carolina so she knew the scene over here.
“Very mature young lady, very coachable. I see her doing great things as well. But you know, we just have to go out there and play and keep getting good experiences on top of good experiences. I just see this team getting better and better.”
