Entering Lorne Don’s sixth season as head coach, Tulane women’s golf seemed poised to have a productive year. The Green Wave returned an impressive number of upperclassmen that included Junior Haydyn Gibson, Junior Gabrielle Correia, Senior Sofia Goicoechiea and Senior Laura Munoz. Each of these golfers have driven, chipped and putted their way to a top 15 finish at least once in their career (tied for 12th, tied for seventh, tied for 12th, and tied for 10th respectively).

After producing a team-leading eight rounds at par or better during her freshman season, standout golfer Jennifer Rosenberg appeared ready for an explosive sophomore season. With the addition of an extremely talented freshman, Isabella Cardenas, who was ranked the 20th best signee from the class of 2022, the team appeared to contain all the ingredients of an exciting year of golf.

This excitement continued through the team’s first tournament, the USA Intercollegiate. The Green Wave rolled into a fourth place finish with strong individual performances from Rosenberg, who tied for sixth, and Munoz, who tied for 16th.

Since this promising start, however, the women’s golf team has gone through a daunting five tournament stretch. At the Ruth’s Chris Tar Heel Invitational, Tulane placed 15th out of 18 teams — with Laura Munoz being the top performer as she tied for 34th.

The team’s woes continued in the Betsy Rawls Longhorn Invite as the Green Wave sunk into an upsetting 11th out of 13 teams. No individual placed in the top 35.

Tulane saw notable improvement at Battle of the Beach, where, amongst 17 other teams, the Green Wave finished 11th. Cardenas lead the charge tying for 29th as the team out-golfed Baylor, who, at the time, was ranked No. 20 in the nation.

This small victory was short lived as the team continued to struggle at its next tournament, the UCF Challenge. Out of 16 teams, the Green Wave crashed into 15th place.

Rosenberg had an incredibly strong start, completing day one tied for first place. Though, as the event went on, she quickly fell from the top and finished the competition tied for 49th.

As a team, Tulane did not see much improvement at the Allstate Sugar Bowl Intercollegiate, finishing 17th out of 18 teams. Individually, however, Rosenberg shined. The sophomore golfer tied for sixth in a tournament replete with top 25 teams and formidable individual opponents.

The women’s golf team has shown the ability to post low scoring rounds, occasionally shooting as low as 289. A lack of consistent performance at both the individual and collective level has led to a tumultuous year with encouraging highlights but few long-term results. As April and the American Athletic Conference tournament rapidly approach, women’s golf will be looking for a string of strong performances as they continue the spring section of their season at the Louisiana State University Tiger Golf Classic on March 29-31.