For UNCW’s women’s golf team, last year was a year to remember: A second-straight Big South Tournament Championship, a second-straight trip to the NCAA East Regional Tournament and its highest ranking ever, No. 41 in the Golfweek-Sagarin season-ending poll.

What’s next?

Maybe a whole lot more.

The Seahawks eye national power status in the coming years. And that involves taking this year’s team, which features no seniors in its tournament-playing golfers, and putting it through a bruising schedule, starting with the season-opening Mason Randolph Championship in Nashville, Tenn. Sept 26-28 which featured defending champions Southern California, No. 2 Auburn, No. 3 Arizona and No. 13 UCLA among others.

Then through its fall section of the season (the golf year runs through May), UNCW heads to powers such as Kentucky and Furman before hosting its own strong tournament, The Landfall Tradition.

“It’s a lot of top-name schools and it’s really exciting for us,” said junior Becky Berzonski. “I kind of know what to expect. I’m not intimidated by the top-name schools. Just try to get there and get some good scores and hopefully so will the rest of the team.”

The increased schedule matches the increased talent pool. The Seahawks graduated last year’s Big South Champion and Chancellor’s Cup Winner (for top female UNCW student-athlete) Yunuen Sanchez, but returns talented players such as juniors Berzonski and Amelie Farrah along with sophomores Audrey Gale, Michelle Jarman and Stephanie Otteson.

The squad also features a pair of touted freshmen, Lauren Howell and Shaela Wolf.

The squad holds a wealth of talent and considering its youth has surprising experience.

“We need that leadership; we need that experience. Our two sophomores in Michelle and Audrey, they were green last year, they were freshmen. … That helped elevate us to another NCAA Regional. Those two, they really didn’t play like typical freshmen. said second-year head coach Cindy Ho, who earned Big South Coach of the Year Honors last season. “I’m extremely excited about the program. Where we’ve come from, we had a good foundation before and in the last (few) years, the program has really taken off nationally.”

And if this years’ team surpasses expectations?

“We don’t want just to have that label participant,” Ho said. “The top eight (teams) out of 21 (at the NCAA Regional) will make the national championship. We want to be one of those eight teams. And so, when you ask individually what they can do, those are the type of things.”

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