After four hard-fought, rainy days at the Kingsmill Resort in Williamsburg, Va., the Emory University women’s golf team captured the NCAA Division III Women’s Golf Championship. This win marked the second national championship in program history and the first under head coach Liz Fernandes.
During the May 13-16 tournament, sophomore Carys Code secured the second individual national championship in program history after she shot a NCAA Division III championship record of 285 (-3). Freshman Zimo Li commended Code’s historic performance and spoke about a crucial shot Code hit on Thursday.
“She [was] definitely hitting the ball so well,” Li said. “I remember third round I was on hole 17, waiting for the group in front of me to tee off. I saw Carys’ hole 16-second shot. It’s a par four, she was in the bunker. She smoked that fairway bunker shot it was so good, that was so solid.”
Li also showcased an impressive performance, finishing fourth individually with a score of 289, including a 71 on the last day of the tournament. Before the final round, the DIII Women’s Golf Coaches Association named Li the Freshman of the Year.
Sophomore Esther Jung, who tied for 17th at Williamsburg with a score of 297, said that last year’s second place finish at the DIII championship motivated the team to get the job done this time around.
“Our team was super confident from the beginning,” Jung said. “We had a really good season the past fall and the past spring. We came in with the mentality of, ‘We’re a team, we’re gonna do this together, we worked really hard for it.’”
Regarding the team’s strengths in this tournament, Code explained that they relied on their consistent putting and short game. The weather in Williamsburg was rainy and windy, leading to a more formidable challenge for the players according to Code, forcing the players to focus on the green.
“I made a lot of high-pressure putts coming in towards the end,” Code said.
Li agreed that they had to trust their putting while in harsh conditions and lacking consistent ball striking.
“My putting improved a lot compared to the rest of the spring season,” Li said. “Honestly, my swing wasn’t the best. I’m a drawer. I’m playing fade[s] all week, so I’m really happy with what I end[ed] up with.”
The team played two different courses at Kingsmill and took advantage of attackable par fives while not being too aggressive on the more challenging holes, according to Code. Jung added that her play style allowed her to drive the ball far on these courses, leading to better scores.
“This golf course suited us very well, especially for [Code] and I,” Jung said. “We are a bit longer hitters, so the par fives were very approachable. We were on in two and trying to make birdie for all of it.”
Code agreed with Jung’s assessment of par fives and said she could recognize which holes to play safely and which to be more aggressive on.
“The approach was mostly just to play it safe on the harder holes,” Code said. “For me, that eight was a challenging hole, so that was just saves, don’t do anything spectacular. But then nine, for example, on the river course, that one was a shorter par five, so that was a green light all week. It’s just taking each hole as it was and as it was giving me to figure out which holes were ones I had to play safer, and then which ones I could really go for.”
While Jung and Li explained that they had no superstitions leading up to the weekend, Code said she had multiple good luck charms that she credited with helping her during her historic weekend.
“I always have the same breakfast, so I had a croissant with butter every day this week,” Code said. “I did my hair the same way every day this week, I used the same ball marker, same warm-up routine.”
While the Eagles will eventually shift their focus to defending their title, for now, Code said she is still enjoying the feeling of making it to the top.
“After last year’s nationals, I haven’t thought about anything else except for this year’s, so this has been marked on my calendar for a long time,” Code said. “So to have all my hard work and all my preparation pay off at the biggest tournament, it’s just an incredible feeling.”
Sammy Brodsky (28C) is majoring in QSS and minoring in Film and Media. He is from Phoenix, Arizona. In his free time, he enjoys playing basketball, rooting for Philadelphia sports teams, golfing, and analyzing music. He loves sports analytics and journalism, and is excited to see what he can do for the Wheel.
