CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. – For the fifth consecutive year, the Elon women’s golf program has had multiple players earn WGCA All-American Scholar honors. Earning accolades in 2014 were sophomores Emily Brooks, Kathryn Buckingham and Sunna Vidisdottir. All three are repeat selections.
This team is presented by the Women’s Golf Coaches Association (WGCA) which was formerly known as the National Golf Coaches Association (NGCA). This year, the WGCA recognized a total of 664 women’s golfers from the Division I, II and III ranks.
The criteria for selection to the All-American Scholar Team are some of the most stringent in all of college athletics. The minimum cumulative GPA is 3.50 and athletes must compete in at least 50 percent of their team’s rounds.
Brooks, who hails from Chapel Hill, N.C., sports a 3.70 GPA and is majoring in media arts and entertainment.
On the links, Brooks played in all 30 of the Phoenix’s rounds, averaging a 77.23. Her best finish of the year was a tie for eighth in a field of 93 players at the JMU/Eagle Landing Invitational in March. At that tournament, Brooks shot a six-over 222 in her three rounds. Brooks’ top round of the year also came at the JMU/Eagle Landing Invitational as she carded a 69 in her first round of the event. In the fall, Brooks tied for 11th out of 51 participants at the W&M Invitational.
A resident of Boise, Idaho, Buckingham boasts a 3.61 GPA while majoring in media arts and entertainment.
In 27 rounds of play, Buckingham averaged a 79.37. Her best finish of the year was a tie for eighth at the JMU/Eagle Landing Invitational in March. In the 93-player field, Buckingham shot a six-over 222 to tie with Brooks. She also claimed a top-15 finish by placing in a tie for 13th out of 50 golfers at the UNCW Seahawk Classic in April. It was here that she posted two rounds of 73, her lowest rounds of the season.
With a GPA of 3.97, Vidisdottir is majoring in finance and statistics.
Vidisdottir, who is a native of Reykajavik, Iceland, was an All-Southern Conference honoree as she ranked fifth in the league with a 75.22 stroke average over 27 rounds. Vidisdottir claimed medalist honors at the W&M Invitational in September, besting 50 other participants with a two-over 215. She finished with six top-20 showings, including a third-place finish at the UNCW Seahawk Classic. She twice carded low rounds of 69 over the course of the 2013-14 campaign.
The Women’s Golf Coaches Association, formerly known as the National Golf Coaches Association, began in 1983 as an organization to promote participation in women’s collegiate golf. The vision of the WGCA since its inception has been to encourage the playing of intercollegiate golf for women in correlation with a general objective of education and in accordance with the highest tradition of intercollegiate competition.
Elon’s All-Time WGCA/NGCA All-American Scholars
2000 – Beth Frace
2001 – Beth Frace
2002 – Laura Orlen
2002 – Katherine Knoepffler
2003 – Katherine Knoepffler
2006 – Kelly Baytos
2006 – Kristin Tremoulis
2008 – Kelsey Johnson
2010 – Kelsey Johnson
2010 – Tara McFadden
2011 – Virginia Mayer
2011 – Tara McFadden
2011 – Martyna Mierzwa
2012 – Diana Davis
2012 – Virginia Mayer
2013 – Emily Brooks
2013 – Kathryn Buckingham
2013 – Martyna Mierzwa
2013 – Sunna Vidisdottir
2014 – Emily Brooks
2014 – Kathryn Buckingham
2014 – Sunna Vidisdottir