UGA Women’s Golf Rack up SEC Honors, Bailey Tardy SEC Freshman of the Year

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UGA Women’s Golf Rack up SEC Honors, Bailey Tardy SEC Freshman of the Year

Georgia’s Bailey Tardy tees off during the Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic at the UGA Golf Course on Sunday, April 3, 2016, in Athens, Ga. (Photo by David Barnes)
Georgia’s Bailey Tardy tees off during the Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic at the UGA Golf Course on Sunday, April 3, 2016, in Athens, Ga. (Photo by David Barnes)

 
 
Bailey Tardy was named SEC Freshman of the Year on Tuesday, headlining a long list of accolades awarded to four members of the UGA women’s golf team. Jillian Hollis, Harang Lee and Rinko Mitsunaga also earned SEC honors.
 
 
Tardy also was named first-team All-SEC and to the SEC All-Freshman team. Lee was tabbed first-team All-SEC. Hollis secured both second-team All-SEC and SEC All-Freshman recognition. Mitsunaga was chosen SEC All-Freshman.
 
 
Tardy, a freshman from Peachtree Corners, Georgia, currently is listed at No. 6 by Golfweek and No. 11 by Golfstat in individual national rankings. She leads the Bulldogs in stroke average (72.15) and par-or-better rounds (17). Tardy set a school record while winning the Windy City Collegiate Classic last fall, shooting 12-under to better Reilley Rankin’s Georgia record by a stroke.
 
 
Tardy is Georgia’s eighth SEC Freshman of the Year honoree all time, joining Tina Paternostro (1989), Luciana Bemvenuti (1991), Vicki Goetze (1992), Erin O’Neil (1994), Shauna Estes (1997), Rankin (1998), Taylor Leon (2006) and Marta Silva Zamora (2009).
 
 
Lee, a junior from Castro Uridales, Spain, is No. 2 and No. 9 in the Golfweek and Golfstat individual rankings, respectively. She sports a team-best 10 top-20 finishes in 11 tournaments played this season. Lee was Georgia’s top individual finisher at six tournaments, including runner-up efforts at both the Cardinal Kickoff and the Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic.
 
 
Hollis, a freshman from Rocky River, Ohio, is ranked No. 24 by Golfweek and No. 51 by Golfstat. She has a 72.56 stroke average, including a 6-under 66 that is the best single round by any Georgia golfer this season. Hollis won medalist honors at the Mountain View Collegiate by shooting 11-under, one stroke shy of Tardy’s school record.
 
 
Mitsunaga, a freshman from Roswell, Georgia, owns a 73.86 stroke average, with six par-or-better rounds, three top-10 finishes and six top-20 performances. Mitsunaga won the Lady Bulldog Individual Championship in February and is one of two golfers – along with Lee – who has appeared in all 11 tournaments this season.
 
 
Georgia, which is ranked No. 4 by Golfweek and No. 6 by Golfstat, will open NCAA Regional play on Thursday. The Bulldogs are the No. 2 seed in the Bryan, Texas Regional, which features 18 teams competing for six spots in the field for the NCAA Championships on May 20-25 in Eugene, Oregon.
 
 


 
 
 
 

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