Women's golf team tees off in district championship on Monday

The Eastern Florida State College women's golf team will tee off Monday morning in the NJCAA Division I Southeast District Championship.

The Titans, who come into the tournament ranked fifth in the nation, have a team championship this spring to go with two top four finishes and finished second last season at the district championships.

"This year is a bit of a role reversal as we are really good 1-2 and Blair Powers has done a good job and is on the cusp of breaking into that group, up top we have a lot of good leadership," Eastern Florida State women's golf coach Jamie Howell said. "It is a narrow golf course and you have to be patient and really wise with your choices. I think tee to green we will be just fine but handling the greens will be tricky, they have a lot of change of elevation. You have to be precise on the approach shots."

Eastern Florida State College is one of four teams nationally ranked in the district tournament which tees off at 7:30 a.m. Monday at Mystic Dunes Golf Club in Kissimmee.  

Defending national runner-up Seminole State College is ranked third with Daytona State College ranked second in the poll after placing third last year in the national tournament. They will be in the field along with Palm Beach State College who is ranked eighth in the nation.

Sophomores Ann Burel and Mila Tang both have an individual win this spring and are heading into the district tournament ranked in the top six nationally as individuals.

Burel picked up her individual win at the Pfeiffer Spring Invite after missing a couple of tournaments due to injury and is ready for the postseason.

"It started out a little bit rough with an injury, but I ended up winning the first tournament which was a blessing," Burel said. "I have been working a lot with my putting and my chipping, my swing is always been fine. That is where you lose your strokes so I am really working on refining that."

Tang has finished in the top eight in all four spring tournaments after missing the fall season recovering from an injury. Tang won the Kinderlou Forest Spring Invite. Last season, Tang placed 12th in the NJCAA Division I National Tournament and was an NJCAA Division I All-America selection.

"I think we all wish we played a little bit better, we had some players miss some tournaments but we have everyone for this tournament, so we will have a good lineup," Tang said. "We have had some time to prepare ourselves and everyone has been working on their game. We are ready and excited to compete in the tournament."

Freshmen Blair Powers has played in all four spring tournaments and has a sixth-place finish in the Pfeiffer Spring Invite. Powers comes into the postseason ranked 17^th nationally. Teammate Konstanze Anglett also has a sixth place finish this spring and has played in all four tournaments.

The district championships will be held Monday and Tuesday, playing 18 holes each day. The top two teams automatically advance to the NJCAA Division I National Championship held at Oakwood Country Club in Moline, Illinois May 11-14. There will also be five at-large teams named to the national tournament.