Lady Raiders Embark on Special NCAA Journey
May 21, 2015 | Women's Golf
Texas Tech is set to play in its first NCAA Championship since 1996.
May 21, 2015
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LUBBOCK, Texas -- The Texas Tech women's golf team will step on to college golf's biggest stage for only the second time in program history on Friday when it tees off in the first round of the 2015 NCAA Championships.
The Lady Raiders finished tied for fifth in the San Antonio Regional on May 9 to end a 19-year sabbatical from the NCAA Championships - the longest drought among the 24 teams qualifying this season.
It also ends a six years of waiting for head coach JoJo Robertson, who took over in 2009 and had made four other NCAA Regional appearances with Tech before finally advancing this year.
"It's obviously very exciting," Robertson said. "This is something I've waited, seems like forever for, and we've certainly tried to do each season since I've been here. Just to finally see all the hard work the girls have done pay off, is really a good feeling and its fun to see how excited they are about it."
Some even get the feeling that every player that's been in the program at Tech in the last six seasons are just as excited as the five representing the Lady Raiders this weekend at The Concession Golf Club in Bradenton, Fla. As soon as the final putt dropped in San Antonio to secure Tech's NCAA berth, the stream of texts and tweets began flooding Robertson's phone immediately.
Rosalyn Rojmar, formerly Rosalyn Kim, was greenside with the team in San Antonio. She played her senior season for Robertson in 2010 and made it to the NCAA Championship that year as an individual.
"Man, this is awesome," she said with a smile as Tech began its celebration that afternoon. "This is going to be something these girls will never forget."
LPGA Tour pros Kim Kaufman and Maria Hernandez both reached out on Twitter and by text to Robertson to say congratulations and followed the action throughout the week to cheer on their former head coach.
Kaufman, arguably Tech's most decorated women's golfer, reached the NCAA Championship in 2012 as an individual, finishing eighth. Hernandez won the 2009 NCAA Championship as an individual at Purdue, where Robertson was an assistant coach.
Congratulations @TexasTechWGolf for going to Nationals!specially to JoJo Robertson for her great job since she arrived!all the best!
-- Maria Hernandez (@MariaHgolf) May 10, 2015
Robertson's melting pot of former players from around the world is almost a direct correlation to the current Lady Raiders embarking on their NCAA journey. Each current player comes from a different country or background. All five players making the trip to Bradenton are playing together this season for the first time. Only junior Kimmy Hill and senior Stephanie Bertelsen were even active players on the team a year ago.
"We're all different in some way and we've kind of used it as a way to feed off each other on and off the golf course," Gabby Barker said. "I think in each way we are unique, it also makes our team unique."
Barker, a true freshman, comes from Caldwell, Idaho and the Duck Valley Indian Reservation. She's played in five of Tech's six tournaments this spring and finished 26th or better each time.
Bertelsen, a native of Vejle, Denmark, transferred from Western Texas College a year ago. She finished as Tech's top golfer at the Big 12 Championships for the second straight season, tying for fifth at 1-over par.Hill, a native of Shanghai, China before coming to California as a 10-year-old, has been one of the biggest to step up in the postseason. She's played her last six rounds at 2-over par, including a 3-under 69 in the second round of the NCAA San Antonio Regional.
Lauren Mason, a redshirt freshman from Queensland, Australia, had to patiently wait for her chance to compete in Division I college golf after coming to the United States in the spring of 2014. She hasn't wasted one opportunity, playing in all seven tournaments while finishing in the top 25 four times. Five years ago, Mason was hardly worried about her golf game while undergoing hip reconstruction and surgery.
And then there's Sarah Brown, a junior transfer from Central Arkansas and Mount Pleasant, Texas native. She's played in every tournament this spring while posting a 73.5 stroke average.
Five years ago, Brown was running the soccer fields at Mount Pleasant High School and had not even competed in an official golf tournament yet.
"It's been quite a ride already this year," Brown said. "It's our first time as players, it's the school's first time since 1996, it's JoJo's first time as a head coach and Matt (Whall) as an assistant. I don't think you could write a better script for how exciting this is for a group of people and there's no one else I would rather be here with than them."
Players Mentioned
