2018 Conference Carolinas Women's Golf Preview and Golfers to Watch
HIGH POINT, N.C. – The 2018 Conference Carolinas Women's Golf preseason poll has been released. Limestone College will enter the season as the favorite to win the Conference Carolinas Women's Golf Championship, according to Conference Carolinas coaches.
1. Limestone College: The Saints topped the preseason poll by earning nine first-place votes for 90 points from Conference coaches.
Limestone finished 2017 as the runner-up in the Conference Carolinas Women's Golf Championship, falling by three strokes to King.
The Saints return three all-conference performers in Hailey Cleary, Victoria Ross and Eleonor Skoog. Partner that trio with emerging stars Ebba Hellman and Pilar Martinez and Limestone has the most potent lineup in all of Conference Carolinas.
Players to Watch:
- Ebba Hellman (Fr.)
- Pilar Martinez (So.)
- *Victoria Ross (Jr.)
2. University of Mount Olive: The Trojans nabbed 80 points and one first-place vote from Conference coaches.
Mount Olive finished third in last year's Women's Golf Championship and return All-Conference Carolinas selection Julia Kaeding for her senior year. UMO is always a team to watch and 2018 is no different.
Players to Watch:
3. King University: The Tornado enter this season ranked third with 64 points.
King captured the 2017 Conference Carolinas Women's Golf Championship by knocking off three-time defending champion Limestone by three strokes. Returning to lead the Tornado is 2017 Championship Medalist Nicola Robertson.
Players to Watch:
- Roxane Nataf (Fr.)
- *Nicola Robertson (Sr.)
- Samantha Taylor (Sr.)
4. Belmont Abbey College: The Crusaders are narrowly ranked fourth with 62 points.
Two All-Conference Carolinas selections return in Kaitlyn Gribbon and Haley Helton to lead a Belmont Abbey team that finish fifth in last year's Championship.
Players to Watch:
- *Kaitlyn Gribbon (Sr.)
- *Haley Helton (Sr.)
- Jenna Nagy (Fr.)
5. Converse College: The Valkyries tallied 56 points to earn a fifth-place preseason ranking from coaches. Converse posted a fourth-place finish at the 2017 Golf Championship.
Players to Watch:
- Tyler Dawson (Jr.)
- Vienna Winalski (Jr.)
6. Erskine College: The Fleet landed in sixth place with 53 points. Erskine also finished sixth in the 2017 Conference Carolinas Women's Golf Championship.
Players to Watch:
- Ning Kheawsalab (So.)
- Stine Lindanger (Fr.)
- Anna Parramore (Fr.)
T7. North Greenville University: North Greenville tied for seventh with Barton with 41 points from Conference coaches. NGU finished 10th in last year's Golf Championship.
Players to Watch: N/A
T7. Barton College: Barton tied for seventh with North Greenville with 41 points from Conference coaches. The Bulldogs collected an eighth-place finish last year at the Golf Championship.
Players to Watch:
- Maria Garcia (Jr.)
- Clare McMahon (So.)
- Sydney Turner (Jr.)
9. Southern Wesleyan University: The Warriors posted 30 points from Conference coaches to enter the season ranked ninth.
Southern Wesleyan posted a seventh-place finish in last season's Women's Golf Championship and return All-Conference Carolinas selection Claire Page.
Players to Watch:
- Emily Anderson (Fr.)
- Jesse Dalton (Fr.)
- *Claire Page (Sr.)
10. Chowan University: The Hawks round out the preseason poll in 10th with 23 points.
Chowan turned in a ninth-place performance last year and have Inecia Rolle, a 2017 all-conference pick, back in 2018.
Players to Watch:
*denotes 2017 All-Conference Carolinas selection
2018 Women's Golf Preseason Poll
| School (first-place votes) |
Total |
| 1. Limestone (9) |
90 |
| 2. Mount Olive (1) |
80 |
| 3. King |
64 |
| 4. Belmont Abbey |
62 |
| 5. Converse |
56 |
| 6. Erskine |
53 |
| T7. North Greenville |
41 |
| T7. Barton |
41 |
| 9. Southern Wesleyan |
30 |
| 10. Chowan |
23 |
Conference Carolinas is a NCAA Division II athletics conference made up of 11 teams from Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. These institutions consist of: Barton College, Belmont Abbey, Converse College, Emmanuel College, Erskine College, King University, Lees-McRae College, Limestone College, University of Mount Olive, North Greenville University, and Southern Wesleyan. Emmanuel College is currently completing the NCAA Membership Process and will be fully competing in league championships in the near future.