UTC golfer Jordan Britt will begin her senior season today when the Mocs open play in the Cardinal Cup at Louisville.Jordan Britt said she still feels like the 18-year-old who won the Class A/AA state championship at Signal Mountain High School in 2009.
She's not. Time has passed.
Britt will begin her senior season of competition when the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women's golf team opens its season today at the Cardinal Cup at the Cardinal Club just west of Louisville.
"I turn 22 in less than a month, but it doesn't feel like it's been three years already because they've flown by," Britt said. "I want to graduate with a good year, a good season, and put everything into the fall and the spring seasons so I can graduate satisfied with my college career."
The start to her senior season begins in Simpsonville, Ky, with 36 holes of golf today and 18 more on Tuesday. Britt, the Mocs' lone senior, tied for 14th place last year and helped UTC finish third, just five shots behind the host Cardinals.
The Mocs will follow that tournament almost immediately with the Mercedes-Benz Women's Championship at Cherokee Golf Club in Knoxville beginning Friday.
"The first tournament is up in the air because you don't know what butterflies will come out to start the season," Britt said. "But then we'll be able to carry momentum from that first tournament right into the second."
Mocs golf coach Colette Murray will have the benefit all season of having the same six golfers who competed during the spring season back for a full season.
Murray said she'd like for Britt, junior Agathe Sauzon of France and sophomore Emily McLennan of Australia to constantly compete for the No. 1 spot in the roster.
"I'm really excited to be able to play and get into competition," said McLennan, who didn't play much golf during Australia's winter season due to a left ankle injury. "There's still a little bit of work to do but I'm ready for tournament play."
Murray would also like junior Mette Kryger of Denmark, sophomore Isabella Loza from Colombia and junior Porsche Campbell of Canada to compete for the final two spots and contribute stout scores when they play.
"If that's what happens, we should be good," Murray said. "But if we only have three scores, then we're not going to be the program we want to be.
"I want to be back in the top 50 in the country because we've slipped out in the past couple of years."
The success of the 2013-14 season will not be determined by any of the five fall tournaments UTC will play this season. It will be determined by how they perform in the spring season, especially the Southern Conference tournament and the NCAA postseason.
"What we do every day is being another SoCon champion and making it to the NCAAs and doing the best we can when we're there," Britt said. "That's why put in the hours and do these tournaments to prepare for those big events."
Contact David Uchiyama at duchiyama@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6484. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/UchiyamaCTFP.