Women’s golf heading to Texas Wesleyan Fall Invite to open season

The UHV Women's Golf team closed the 2023-24 season strong.

The Jaguars finished second in the Red River-Frontier Conference Women's Golf Tournament last season at Victoria Country Club, edging out Our Lady of the Lake for the second spot and finishing behind a Top 25 program in Rocky Mountain College.

UHV will look to build on that momentum Sept. 9-10 at the Texas Wesleyan Fall Invite at Hawks Creek Golf Club in Fort Worth. The Rams are currently ranked No. 5 in the NAIA.

"On both sides, men and women, they have Top 10 programs," said head coach Garrett Adair. "That's why we scheduled this right out of the gate. We get to see where we are compared to one of the best programs in the nation on both sides. I'm looking for us to go up there and compete, and show that our team belongs. There's not much separating us and these other teams."

The Jaguars return senior Emmily Bickelmann this year. The Weisbaden, Germany, native earned All-Tournament honors at the conference tournament last year with rounds of 77-87-75—239 which saw her finish fourth.

UHV also returns senior Evelyn Nguyen, and juniors Kaitlin Lopez and Laney Glass. Adair feels the tournament experience of his four returners will be huge for newcomers Madeline Pate, Reese Trujillo and Remme Trujillo.

"It's really good. We have four returners with tournament experience," Adair said. "They can use that to help lead the other girls. But having Emmily back after a strong season is huge, and she's picked right back up in practice. Getting Evelyn back, fully healthy and back in the groove of everything is big. Plus, Kaitlin and Laney have tournament experience. All of them can help the newcomers understand what college golf is all about."

This is the first of three scheduled tournaments in the fall for the Jaguars. They'll compete in the Waco River Classic Sept. 16-17 and then the UHV Fall Classic Oct. 21-22.