University of Georgia Athletics
Freshmen Eager To Make Their Mark
September 07, 2015 | Women's Golf
By John Frierson
UGAAA Staff Writer
Jillian Hollis, Rinko Mitsunaga and Bailey Tardy are eager to do big things. They'll get their chance soon enough.
All three are freshmen on Georgia's women's golf team and all three are highly accomplished junior players. The three rookies also finished in the top five at the end of the Bulldogs' six rounds of preseason qualifying, which including all 10 players on the roster.
When they signed with Georgia last November, all three were ranked in the top 12 in country. Now they have earned their spots in the Bulldogs' starting lineup.
"It's nice that I have the two other freshmen with me; we're all in this together and we're all a little stressed together," said Hollis, from Rocky River, Ohio. "It's been good to be here together and it's been good figuring out things with them. And having the seniors and juniors and the one sophomore to help us along the way, it's been great."
The trio will join junior Harang Lee and senior Manuela Carbajo Ré in Atlanta on Tuesday for the season-opening Cardinal Kickoff, hosted by the University of Louisville at the Atlanta Athletic Club.
It may be Tardy's collegiate debut, but she'll be on familiar ground at the Athletic Club, which is the Peachtree Corners native's home course. She could hop on a golf cart and probably be at her own bed in less than 15 minutes. Mitsunaga, from Roswell, will be playing close to home, as well.
"It's nice to get back in that groove and I'm excited to get started on Tuesday," said Tardy, whose last tournament was the U.S. Women's Amateur, where she advanced to the round of 16.
All three freshmen played well in qualifying, and Tardy certainly appeared in the groove during the final round, last Friday. She shot a 7-under 65 to draw even with Lee for medalist honors in the qualifying. They both finished at 1-over, two strokes ahead of Carbajo Ré and three in front of Hollis.
All 10 Bulldogs will be in action, with the top five qualifiers on the "Red" team and the next five on the "Black," on Tuesday. Joining the Dogs and Louisville in the one-day, 36-hole event will be Georgia State and Tennessee.
"The scores have been really good and it's just nice when you have the competition and depth that we have," Georgia coach Josh Brewer said. "Every coach says they have depth and we've had to build and build, and this year it's there. ... They've been out here working hard and they know they're going to have to give their best effort every week to play, which is exactly what you want."
All three freshmen talked about having to deal with both the stress of being a new college student and playing the qualifying rounds. High stress seldom leads to good golf.
"That's been the most stressful part of college so far," Mitsunaga said of the qualifying rounds. "It feels like a tournament and so I think it's really good practice for all of us."
You don't have to go very far back to see a Georgia program that counted heavily on a group of freshmen that were very much up for the challenge. UGA's women's tennis team had five freshmen on its roster in 2014-15 and three were in the singles and doubles lineup during the Bulldogs' run to the semifinals of the NCAA tournament.
"We're all doing well right now and playing well, but it's not going to be easy to stay in the top five," Mitsunaga said. "We're going to have to keep working hard and playing well to stay there."
John Frierson is a staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Hall of Fame at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex. You can follow him on Twitter: @FriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.
Players Mentioned
