2023-24 Women's Golf Roster
Don, Caterina
Caterina Don
- Height:
- 5-6
- Class:
- Fifth Year
- High School:
- Istituto Maria Immacolata in Scuola Paritaria DM
- Hometown:
- Pinerolo, Italy
- Exchange Profile:
- Pitch an NIL Deal
Bio
Final bio including career stats (PDF)
2023-24 Season Highlights:
• Tabbed honorable mention All-America by both the Women’s Golf Coaches Association and (WGCA) and Golfweek.
• Voted second-team All-SEC for the third time in her career, following the 2020 and 2021 seasons.
• Named to the WGCA’s All-American Scholar team and the SEC’s Academic Honor Roll for the fifth time in her career.
• Selected at the female student-athlete representative for the UGA Athletic Association’s Board of Directors.
• Georgia’s nominee for the Boyd McWhorter Scholar-Athlete Award, the highest honor an SEC student-athlete can win.
• Finished the season ranked No. 31 individually in the NCAA’s Scoreboard rankings.
• Led the Bulldogs in virtually every statistic, including stroke average (71.54), par-or-better rounds (21), birdies (127), low-54 (5-under), top-20s (11) and counting percentage (99.1).
• Georgia’s top individual finisher at 10 of 13 tournaments, with a trio of runner-up finishes, seven top-10s and 11 top-20s.
• Among the Bulldogs’ best-ever single-season efforts, posted the fourth-best stroke average (71.54) and the fourth-most par-or-better rounds (21)
• Christened her season with an 8-under effort at the Cougar Classic, the low tournament tally of any Bulldog all season.
• Finished as the individual runner up at the Lady Bulldog Individual Championship, the Collegiate Invitational at Guadalajara Country Club and the Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic.
• Named SEC co-Golfer of the Week on March 20 after shooting 6-under 210 to finish fifth at the FSU Match Up.
2022-23 Season Highlights
• Received the Joel Eaves Award as UGA’s senior female student-athlete with the highest GPA.
• Named to the College Sports Communicators (CSC) At-Large All-District Team, a ledger including student-athletes from 12 sports.
• One of two (of approximately 250) current Georgia female student-athletes chosen to take part in a panel discussion in the UGA Athletic Association’s event celebrating the 50th anniversary of Title IX.
• One of 10 collegiate student-athletes from state of Georgia schools honored as a “Peach of an Athlete” by the Atlanta Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America as a “Peach of an Athlete” role model for distinguishing themselves by their character, scholastic achievement, academic excellence and community service.
• Serves as Vice President of UGA’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC)
• Competed in 12 tourneys, including 10 of 11 team events.
• A top-10 individual finisher in four of eight spring starts.
• Recorded a pair of par-or-better scores to help Georgia post a school-record 20-under team at the Illini Invitational.
• Captured her second collegiate victory at the San Diego State Classic, where she shot even-par 216 to edge teammate Jo Hua Hung by a stroke.
• Trimmed .81 stroke per round from her fall average – from 74.67 in 2022 to 73.86 in 2023.
2021-22 Season Highlights
• One of two Bulldogs – along with Jenny Bae – to earn a spot in the lineup for all 11 team tournaments and also competed in the Lady Bulldog Invitational and the match play versus Virginia.
• Recorded a 73.61 average over 36 rounds, with 12 par-or-better efforts.
• Contributed counting scores in 88.2 percent of her team rounds, the second-best percentage on the team.
• Georgia’s top individual finisher at two tournaments, tying for second with teammate Candice Mahé at the Lady Bulldog Invitational and finishing fifth at the Clover Cup.
• Recorded a third top-10 performance by tying for sixth at the Columbia Classic.
• Produced scores that counted during six of seven rounds at the NCAA Albuquerque Regional and the NCAA Championships.
• Posted a 3-and-1 victory over Stanford’s Sadie Englemann in the quarterfinals of match play at the NCAA Championships to supply the Bulldogs with an early 1-0 lead over the eventual national champions.
• Holed out for eagle on No. 10 from 162 yards at No. 10 of her match with Englemann, a shot that made it’s way to the No. 10 spot on SportsCenter’s top-10 plays that evening.
2020-21 Season Highlights
• Voted second-team All-SEC in balloting of league coaches and also one of nine Bulldogs named to the SEC Academic Honor Roll.
• Named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District team for at-large sports, a category covering 14 separate women's sports. Honored for District 4, which covers schools in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Puerto Rico and South Carolina.
• In the lineup for the nine of 11 events, missing the LSU Classic and the SEC Championships.
• Finished the campaign second on the team in stroke average (73.70), par-or-better rounds (nine) and top-20 finishes (four).
• Georgia’s top individual finisher at two tournaments – the fall version of the Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic and the Heroes Intercollegiate.
• Received an invitation to compete in the 2020 U.S. Women’s Open based on her WAGR status and shot 9-over over 36 holes at Champions Golf Club.
• Played the Champions Club's Cypress Creek Course during Thursday's opening round and was briefly tied for second on the individual leaderboard after a birdie at No. 3.
• One of six Bulldogs to earn eight spots in the fields of the last six U.S. Women’s Opens, joining current teammates Céleste Dao (2018 and 2019) and Jo Hua Hung (2021) as well as former standouts Jillian Hollis (2018), Bailey Tardy (2016 and 2017) and Rinko Mitsunaga (2016).
• Fired a school-record 8-under 64 in the second round at the Heroes Intercollegiate. With a shotgun start that began at No. 9, her loop featured successive birdies at No. 9, No. 12, No. 13, No. 15, No. 16, No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4.
• Her 64 paced Georgia to an 11-under round as team, equaling the second-best single-day effort in program history.
• Tied for 25th at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur and is one of only nine golfers to make the cut in both the 2019 and 2021 editions of the tournament along with Allisen Corpuz (Southern Cal), Olivia Mehaffey (Arizona St.), Erica Sheperd (Duke), Emma Spitz (UCLA), Maja Stark (Oklahoma St.), Kaleigh Telfer (Auburn), Beatrice Wallin (Florida St.) and Rose Zhang (Stanford).
• Closed her sophomore year with an even-par 72 in the third round of the NCAA Championships, the Bulldogs’ low loop in 54 holes of competition in Arizona.
• Notched a pair of impressive top-20 efforts during the summer, tying for 13th in the Italian Women’s Amateur Stroke Play Championship in June and tying for 14th at the European Ladies Amateur Championship in July.
2019-20 Season Highlights
• Named second-team All-America by Golfweek and also a second-team All-SEC honoree in balloting of league coaches.
• Named both a WGCA All-American Scholar and featured on the SEC Academic Honor Roll.
• Featured on both the Fall and Spring Watch Lists for the ANNIKA Award, ledgers that included the top-15 golfers in the nation at the time of their releases.
• Recorded the fifth-best season stroke average in school history, a 72.15 mark over 20 rounds of the pandemic-shortened season.
• Georgia’s top golfer throughout her freshman campaign and the Bulldogs’ top individual finisher at four of seven events – the Minnesota Invitational, the Stanford Intercollegiate, the White Sands Invitational and the Lady Puerto Rico Classic.
• One of only two Bulldogs – along with Jo Hua Hung – in the lineup for every event and the only Georgia golfer to record a perfect 100 percent counting percentage.
• Led the team in virtually every statistical category, including average (72.15), birdies (59), par-or-better rounds (11), low 18 (6-under 66), top-10s (four) and top-20s (five).
• Recorded top-5 individual performances at three of four fall tourneys, winning the Minnesota Invitational and also tying for fifth at The Molly and tying for fourth at the White Sands Invitational.
• Covered 11 fall rounds at a combined 9-under en route to a 70.91 average.
• Opened her career by shooting 9-under 135 to capture medalist honors at the Minnesota Invitational. Became just the second Georgia golfer to win her collegiate debut and the first since Summer Sirmons won the 1998 Auburn Tiger Invitational.
• Fired a 6-under 66 in the opening round in Minnesota, a stroke shy of Georgia’s best-ever 18-hole effort.
• Served as captain of Italy’s National Team for the Spirit International Amateur Championship at Whispering Pines Golf Club in Trinity, Texas, leading the squad to fifth- and seventh-place showings in the women’s and co-ed divisions, respectively.
• Finished as individual runner-up to teammate Céleste Dao at The Gold Rush, falling one stroke off her classmate’s pace. Shot 6-under 210 at The Gold Rush, which equaled the eighth-best 54-hole score in program history.
• Earned medalist honors at the 2020 Italian Match Play Championships after shooting 8-under 136 in stroke play qualifying, five shots better than anyone else in the field. Eventually advanced to the semifinal round of match play in her first competition in four months before falling on the 18th hole.
• Finished second at the 2020 Italian Stroke Play Championships. Covered the 72-hole event at Royal Park Golf and Country Club outside Turin in 6-under 282, three shots off the pace of Alessia Nobilio.
• Won the 2020 Italian Women’s Open at Golf Club Nazionale in Sutri, Italy, by shooting 3-under 141. The Open featured Italy’s top professional and amateur golfers.
Pre Collegiate Highlights
• Ranked No. 26 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings when she arrived on campus this fall.
• Listed at No. 2 in the European Golf Rankings following the 2019 summer season. Posted 13 under-par scores in 27 rounds during nine counting tournaments in the Euro rankings system’s 52-week window.
• In the four years prior to arriving in Athens competed in 59 WAGR events, recording 29 top-10s, 23 top-5s and five victories.
• Captured medalist honors at the 2019 European Girls’ Team Championship at El Saler Golf Course in Valencia, Spain. Shot 12-under 132 over 36 holes, four strokes better than the rest of the field.
• Also secured four more individual wins at the 2018 Trofeo Glauco Lolli Ghetti Italian Am, the 2017 and 2018 Italian U18 National Championship – Trofeo Roberta Bertotto and the 2018 Italian U18 Team Championship – Trofeo Emilio Pallavacino.
• Finished third at the 2019 European Ladies’ Amateur Championship, shooting 6-under 282 and falling one stroke shy of a playoff for the individual title.
• Competed in the inaugural Augusta National Women’s Amateur in April 2019, where she shot 2-over 218 and tied for 12th individually.
• Helped Europe defeat Great Britain & Ireland, 14.5-9.5, in the 2019 Vagliano Trophy. Individually, posted a 3-1 record in her singles and foursomes matches.
• Helped Italy secure the team title at the 2018 World Junior Girls’ Team Championship, where she finished sixth individually.
• Led Italy to victory at the 2016 and 2018 European Girls’ Team Championships, as well as a runner-up finish in 2017 and a third-place showing in 2019. All told, compiled an 11-5-4 record in match play during those four events.
• Participated in the 2018 World Amateur Team Championships, tying for 23rd on the individual leaderboard and helping Italy to a sixth place team finish.
• Finished as runner up at the 2018 and 2019 Italian Ladies Match Play Championships – Giuseppe Silva Trophy. In 2018, lost to Emilie Alba Paltrinieri. In 2019, fell to Virginia Bossi on the 19th hole of the championship match.
Personal
• Born January 9, 2001, Caterina is the daughter of Alberto Don and Sandra Ronaldo and is majoring in Mathematics.
• Recipient of the Liz Murphey Women’s Athletic Scholarship Endowment for 2019-20 and 2020-21 and a Ramsey Scholarship for Academic & Athletic Excellence for 2021-22.
2023-24 Season Highlights:
• Tabbed honorable mention All-America by both the Women’s Golf Coaches Association and (WGCA) and Golfweek.
• Voted second-team All-SEC for the third time in her career, following the 2020 and 2021 seasons.
• Named to the WGCA’s All-American Scholar team and the SEC’s Academic Honor Roll for the fifth time in her career.
• Selected at the female student-athlete representative for the UGA Athletic Association’s Board of Directors.
• Georgia’s nominee for the Boyd McWhorter Scholar-Athlete Award, the highest honor an SEC student-athlete can win.
• Finished the season ranked No. 31 individually in the NCAA’s Scoreboard rankings.
• Led the Bulldogs in virtually every statistic, including stroke average (71.54), par-or-better rounds (21), birdies (127), low-54 (5-under), top-20s (11) and counting percentage (99.1).
• Georgia’s top individual finisher at 10 of 13 tournaments, with a trio of runner-up finishes, seven top-10s and 11 top-20s.
• Among the Bulldogs’ best-ever single-season efforts, posted the fourth-best stroke average (71.54) and the fourth-most par-or-better rounds (21)
• Christened her season with an 8-under effort at the Cougar Classic, the low tournament tally of any Bulldog all season.
• Finished as the individual runner up at the Lady Bulldog Individual Championship, the Collegiate Invitational at Guadalajara Country Club and the Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic.
• Named SEC co-Golfer of the Week on March 20 after shooting 6-under 210 to finish fifth at the FSU Match Up.
2022-23 Season Highlights
• Received the Joel Eaves Award as UGA’s senior female student-athlete with the highest GPA.
• Named to the College Sports Communicators (CSC) At-Large All-District Team, a ledger including student-athletes from 12 sports.
• One of two (of approximately 250) current Georgia female student-athletes chosen to take part in a panel discussion in the UGA Athletic Association’s event celebrating the 50th anniversary of Title IX.
• One of 10 collegiate student-athletes from state of Georgia schools honored as a “Peach of an Athlete” by the Atlanta Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America as a “Peach of an Athlete” role model for distinguishing themselves by their character, scholastic achievement, academic excellence and community service.
• Serves as Vice President of UGA’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC)
• Competed in 12 tourneys, including 10 of 11 team events.
• A top-10 individual finisher in four of eight spring starts.
• Recorded a pair of par-or-better scores to help Georgia post a school-record 20-under team at the Illini Invitational.
• Captured her second collegiate victory at the San Diego State Classic, where she shot even-par 216 to edge teammate Jo Hua Hung by a stroke.
• Trimmed .81 stroke per round from her fall average – from 74.67 in 2022 to 73.86 in 2023.
2021-22 Season Highlights
• One of two Bulldogs – along with Jenny Bae – to earn a spot in the lineup for all 11 team tournaments and also competed in the Lady Bulldog Invitational and the match play versus Virginia.
• Recorded a 73.61 average over 36 rounds, with 12 par-or-better efforts.
• Contributed counting scores in 88.2 percent of her team rounds, the second-best percentage on the team.
• Georgia’s top individual finisher at two tournaments, tying for second with teammate Candice Mahé at the Lady Bulldog Invitational and finishing fifth at the Clover Cup.
• Recorded a third top-10 performance by tying for sixth at the Columbia Classic.
• Produced scores that counted during six of seven rounds at the NCAA Albuquerque Regional and the NCAA Championships.
• Posted a 3-and-1 victory over Stanford’s Sadie Englemann in the quarterfinals of match play at the NCAA Championships to supply the Bulldogs with an early 1-0 lead over the eventual national champions.
• Holed out for eagle on No. 10 from 162 yards at No. 10 of her match with Englemann, a shot that made it’s way to the No. 10 spot on SportsCenter’s top-10 plays that evening.
2020-21 Season Highlights
• Voted second-team All-SEC in balloting of league coaches and also one of nine Bulldogs named to the SEC Academic Honor Roll.
• Named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District team for at-large sports, a category covering 14 separate women's sports. Honored for District 4, which covers schools in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Puerto Rico and South Carolina.
• In the lineup for the nine of 11 events, missing the LSU Classic and the SEC Championships.
• Finished the campaign second on the team in stroke average (73.70), par-or-better rounds (nine) and top-20 finishes (four).
• Georgia’s top individual finisher at two tournaments – the fall version of the Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic and the Heroes Intercollegiate.
• Received an invitation to compete in the 2020 U.S. Women’s Open based on her WAGR status and shot 9-over over 36 holes at Champions Golf Club.
• Played the Champions Club's Cypress Creek Course during Thursday's opening round and was briefly tied for second on the individual leaderboard after a birdie at No. 3.
• One of six Bulldogs to earn eight spots in the fields of the last six U.S. Women’s Opens, joining current teammates Céleste Dao (2018 and 2019) and Jo Hua Hung (2021) as well as former standouts Jillian Hollis (2018), Bailey Tardy (2016 and 2017) and Rinko Mitsunaga (2016).
• Fired a school-record 8-under 64 in the second round at the Heroes Intercollegiate. With a shotgun start that began at No. 9, her loop featured successive birdies at No. 9, No. 12, No. 13, No. 15, No. 16, No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4.
• Her 64 paced Georgia to an 11-under round as team, equaling the second-best single-day effort in program history.
• Tied for 25th at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur and is one of only nine golfers to make the cut in both the 2019 and 2021 editions of the tournament along with Allisen Corpuz (Southern Cal), Olivia Mehaffey (Arizona St.), Erica Sheperd (Duke), Emma Spitz (UCLA), Maja Stark (Oklahoma St.), Kaleigh Telfer (Auburn), Beatrice Wallin (Florida St.) and Rose Zhang (Stanford).
• Closed her sophomore year with an even-par 72 in the third round of the NCAA Championships, the Bulldogs’ low loop in 54 holes of competition in Arizona.
• Notched a pair of impressive top-20 efforts during the summer, tying for 13th in the Italian Women’s Amateur Stroke Play Championship in June and tying for 14th at the European Ladies Amateur Championship in July.
2019-20 Season Highlights
• Named second-team All-America by Golfweek and also a second-team All-SEC honoree in balloting of league coaches.
• Named both a WGCA All-American Scholar and featured on the SEC Academic Honor Roll.
• Featured on both the Fall and Spring Watch Lists for the ANNIKA Award, ledgers that included the top-15 golfers in the nation at the time of their releases.
• Recorded the fifth-best season stroke average in school history, a 72.15 mark over 20 rounds of the pandemic-shortened season.
• Georgia’s top golfer throughout her freshman campaign and the Bulldogs’ top individual finisher at four of seven events – the Minnesota Invitational, the Stanford Intercollegiate, the White Sands Invitational and the Lady Puerto Rico Classic.
• One of only two Bulldogs – along with Jo Hua Hung – in the lineup for every event and the only Georgia golfer to record a perfect 100 percent counting percentage.
• Led the team in virtually every statistical category, including average (72.15), birdies (59), par-or-better rounds (11), low 18 (6-under 66), top-10s (four) and top-20s (five).
• Recorded top-5 individual performances at three of four fall tourneys, winning the Minnesota Invitational and also tying for fifth at The Molly and tying for fourth at the White Sands Invitational.
• Covered 11 fall rounds at a combined 9-under en route to a 70.91 average.
• Opened her career by shooting 9-under 135 to capture medalist honors at the Minnesota Invitational. Became just the second Georgia golfer to win her collegiate debut and the first since Summer Sirmons won the 1998 Auburn Tiger Invitational.
• Fired a 6-under 66 in the opening round in Minnesota, a stroke shy of Georgia’s best-ever 18-hole effort.
• Served as captain of Italy’s National Team for the Spirit International Amateur Championship at Whispering Pines Golf Club in Trinity, Texas, leading the squad to fifth- and seventh-place showings in the women’s and co-ed divisions, respectively.
• Finished as individual runner-up to teammate Céleste Dao at The Gold Rush, falling one stroke off her classmate’s pace. Shot 6-under 210 at The Gold Rush, which equaled the eighth-best 54-hole score in program history.
• Earned medalist honors at the 2020 Italian Match Play Championships after shooting 8-under 136 in stroke play qualifying, five shots better than anyone else in the field. Eventually advanced to the semifinal round of match play in her first competition in four months before falling on the 18th hole.
• Finished second at the 2020 Italian Stroke Play Championships. Covered the 72-hole event at Royal Park Golf and Country Club outside Turin in 6-under 282, three shots off the pace of Alessia Nobilio.
• Won the 2020 Italian Women’s Open at Golf Club Nazionale in Sutri, Italy, by shooting 3-under 141. The Open featured Italy’s top professional and amateur golfers.
Pre Collegiate Highlights
• Ranked No. 26 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings when she arrived on campus this fall.
• Listed at No. 2 in the European Golf Rankings following the 2019 summer season. Posted 13 under-par scores in 27 rounds during nine counting tournaments in the Euro rankings system’s 52-week window.
• In the four years prior to arriving in Athens competed in 59 WAGR events, recording 29 top-10s, 23 top-5s and five victories.
• Captured medalist honors at the 2019 European Girls’ Team Championship at El Saler Golf Course in Valencia, Spain. Shot 12-under 132 over 36 holes, four strokes better than the rest of the field.
• Also secured four more individual wins at the 2018 Trofeo Glauco Lolli Ghetti Italian Am, the 2017 and 2018 Italian U18 National Championship – Trofeo Roberta Bertotto and the 2018 Italian U18 Team Championship – Trofeo Emilio Pallavacino.
• Finished third at the 2019 European Ladies’ Amateur Championship, shooting 6-under 282 and falling one stroke shy of a playoff for the individual title.
• Competed in the inaugural Augusta National Women’s Amateur in April 2019, where she shot 2-over 218 and tied for 12th individually.
• Helped Europe defeat Great Britain & Ireland, 14.5-9.5, in the 2019 Vagliano Trophy. Individually, posted a 3-1 record in her singles and foursomes matches.
• Helped Italy secure the team title at the 2018 World Junior Girls’ Team Championship, where she finished sixth individually.
• Led Italy to victory at the 2016 and 2018 European Girls’ Team Championships, as well as a runner-up finish in 2017 and a third-place showing in 2019. All told, compiled an 11-5-4 record in match play during those four events.
• Participated in the 2018 World Amateur Team Championships, tying for 23rd on the individual leaderboard and helping Italy to a sixth place team finish.
• Finished as runner up at the 2018 and 2019 Italian Ladies Match Play Championships – Giuseppe Silva Trophy. In 2018, lost to Emilie Alba Paltrinieri. In 2019, fell to Virginia Bossi on the 19th hole of the championship match.
Personal
• Born January 9, 2001, Caterina is the daughter of Alberto Don and Sandra Ronaldo and is majoring in Mathematics.
• Recipient of the Liz Murphey Women’s Athletic Scholarship Endowment for 2019-20 and 2020-21 and a Ramsey Scholarship for Academic & Athletic Excellence for 2021-22.
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