April 19, 2003

The Southeastern Conference announced out its three major women’s golf awards during a banquet on Friday evening which followed the first round of play at the SEC Championship, hosted in Lexington by the University Club of Kentucky.

South Carolina senior Kristy McPherson was named the SEC Golfer of the Year. McPherson, currently ranked tenth in the nation, is a two-time defending medalist at the SEC Championship, where she has scored par-or-better in a record eight consecutive rounds.

The Conway, S.C., natives 72.26 stroke average is the lowest in the league, which features 11 of the nation’s top-50 golfers. McPherson opened the 2003 SEC Championship by shooting four-under-par on Friday to take two-stroke lead after one round.

Violeta Retamoza of Tennessee earned SEC Freshman of the Year honors. Retamoza’s stroke average of 72.49 places her second in the nation among freshmen, and 15th overall. The Aguascalientes, Mexico, product won two medals this season, while capturing three other top-10 finishes.

Retamoza ended the first day of the SEC Championship in a tie for second place at two-under-par. She will be featured in the final grouping on day two along with McPherson and Florida’s Aimee Cho.

The SEC Coach of the Year award went to Vanderbilt’s Martha Freitag. In her third season at the helm of the Commodores, Freitag led the VU as high as No. 2 in the nation. Her team entered the SEC Championship ranked ninth with a 73.31 stroke average, second in the league.

Vanderbilt has finished in the top three of four tournaments this season, including a victory at the Mason Rudolph Championships that saw a second round score of 285 (three-under-par). The Commodores are in seventh place after day one of the SEC Championship.