Women's golf team ready to start district championship Monday

The Eastern Florida State College women's golf team is heading into the NJCAA Ladies Southeast District Championship with a lot of confidence.

And they should be confident as they are coming off a tournament win at the Deercroft Spring Break Invite in North Carolina and are ranked fourth in the latest Golfstat NJCAA Division I national poll.

"They work really hard and so it was good to see that work pay off for them to be able to pick up a big tournament win and it was validation for them after all of the work they have put in," Eastern Florida State College women's golf coach Jamie Howell said.

The team has a strong mix of sophomores who have played in the postseason before and some freshmen who have earned their way into the rotation.

"We have such a good team dynamic, I have learned so much and love being with this team. I could not have asked for a better freshman experience," Gracie Doke said. "We are just growing and I love playing golf and am really excited to see how we do."

The Southeast District Tournament will be played at River Falls Plantation in Duncan, South Carolina. Defending national champion Seminole State College as well as No. 2-ranked Daytona State College will be among the teams in the district tournament which features teams from five Regions.

"The field is going to tough, we adjusted pretty well to the course in North Carolina and it was incredibly different than what they normally play and it was tough to adjust to," Howell said. "If we can just play good solid golf this week, I will take my chances with my five."

Freshman Sarah Knitter has had a strong first season with the Titans, placing in the top 10 individually in all four tournaments this season.

"It is just crazy to think it is the end of the season, it feels like I just got here and we have two tournaments left with this team," Knitter said. "We should just enjoy the time that we have left, even if some of us are not at our best, just go out and play and do what we love."

Sophomore Morela Boyd is back after injuries had sidelined her for part of the spring season and is ready to get back to the national tournament after finishing 10^th overall last season and was named the program's first All-American.

"We have that experience now and we know it will be a challenge considering the top teams in our district are all together," Boyd said. "We know what to expect and have really worked on keeping our composure no matter what is happening and I think that is really going to help us this year."

The district tournament will begin Monday afternoon in South Carolina with the final round slated for Tuesday morning. The teams will play 18 holes each day.

"We have made a lot of progress this season, we keep working every day and I feel like we will do really well at districts," sophomore Savannah Hawthorne said.