BATON ROUGE – LSU junior golfer Tessa Teachman of Baton Rouge was named to the five-member team that will represent the USA in the World University Games, Aug. 12-23 at the Mission Hills Course in Shenzen, China.
The event, held every other year, is sponsored by the International University Sports Federation. This is only the second year that golf has been included in The Games, which are in their 14th session. Golf was first included in Thailand in 2007. The US finished third that year, out of first by three shots.
Teachman had a great fall campaign, playing in three events, averaging 71.3 strokes per rounds, including a low collegiate round of 67 that led to a fourth-place finish in the first tournament of the year. In 57 career rounds, she has averaged 74.2 strokes per round.
Teachman is ranked 17th in the national GolfWeek/Sagarin collegiate rankings for the Lady Tiger golf team that is ranked fourth in the country. LSU opens its spring schedule Feb. 21 and hosts its annual spring tournament, the LSU Golf Classic, at the “new” University Club course, March 11-13.
“We are proud and excited for Tessa to have the opportunity to represent LSU and the USA in the World University Games,” said LSU women’s golf Head Coach Karen Bahnsen. “It’s a great honor for her and our program and it’s certainly well-deserved for her. She has had experience in the AJGA Canon Cup and that experience will help her. It will be a wonderful chance for to travel and experience China and we are all very excited for her.”
Diane Thomason, former head coach at the University of Iowa, has been named coach of the United States women’s team that will also include Catherine O’Donnell, a junior at North Carolina, who won the World University Golf Championship in June 2010. She is joined by Michigan State sophomore Caroline Powers, TCU junior Brooke Beeler and Colorado junior Emily Talley.
Players will have to pay their own way to the event, but Thomason said they are allowed to fundraise.
“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience for these kids,” said Thomason. “It’s like the Olympics, really.”
The Canon Cup, of which Teachman was a participant in 2008, is sponsored by the American Junior Golf Association and matched the top 20 players broken into East and West squads in a match play competition.
The team will not practice together prior to the event, but Thomason said they will get in a few practice rounds before play begins at Mission Hills. There is team and individual competition in the event.