Women's Golf | September 9, 2016

ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The La Salle women's golf team is set for its first tournament in program history this weekend in Annapolis. The Explorers will be one of 16 teams competing at the Navy Invitational, which begins at 12:30 PM on Saturday with 18 holes. The second round will tee off at 9:00 AM on Sunday.

The program was added in December and its first head coach, PGA Professional Jason Calhoun, was added in January. He arrives at La Salle with Division I college coaching experience at Saint Francis, Dartmouth and Loyola-Chicago. 

"The girls are soaking this up and are amped up about the first tournament," Calhoun said from the course on Friday during the team's practice round. "They are having a great experience and really enjoying the journey."

Six players are a part of the inaugural roster, with five being freshmen. The only upperclassman is graduate student Kendra Heyer, a four-year letterwinner for the La Salle softball team who earned Academic All-America honors last spring.

Rebecca Smith arrives at La Salle after being a two-time MVP at Columbus East High School in Indiana, where she shot a career-best 73. The other four freshmen are all local from the Philadelphia area and the Jersey Shore.

Marybelle Daclan (Galloway, N.J.) averaged 79.0 strokes/round as a senior and Mary Eyde (Collegeville, Pa.) was a four-year letterwinner at Perkimon Valley.

Gabby Morganti (Havertown, Pa.) was La Salle's first ever verbal committment and was a member of the Academy of Notre Dame squad that won the Inter-Ac. Bella Ritzel (Margate City, N.J.) was an accomplished player at Ocean City High School.

The Navy Invitational will kick off a fall schedule that features two additional tournaments at Bucknell and Delaware. The Explorers will play the par 72, 6,085-yard Naval Academy Golf Course. Joining the Blue and Gold are Navy, Bucknell, Central Connecticut, The Citadel, Delaware State, Harvard, Holy Cross, Lehigh, Monmouth, Penn, Quinnipiac, Sacred Heart, Saint Francis, Towson and Wagner.