University of Tennessee Athletics
THREE FORMER LADY VOLS ATTEND LPGA QUALIFYING SCHOOL
September 20, 2006 | Women's Golf
Sept. 20, 2006
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Former Tennessee standouts Golda Johansson, Violeta Retamoza and Jessica Shepley completed day one in the first of two LPGA Sectional Qualifying tournaments with scores of 75, 76 and 78 respectively at the Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, Calif. Johansson is tied for 67th on the par-72 course, while Retamoza is in 87th and Shepley is tied for 124th in the field of 171 LPGA hopefuls.
While at UT, Johansson earned second-team All-SEC honors her senior year. During the season she played some of the best golf of her career, including a second-place finish (70-73-71=214) at the Dr. Donnis Thompson Invite and third-place honors the next week at the Lady Gamecock Classic (72-72-74=218). Since her graduation from Rocky Top in May 2006, the Lund, Sweden native has been playing internationally.
Retamoza, a native of Aguascalientes, Mexico, is the only Lady Vol in history to nab both SEC Freshman of the Year in 2003 and SEC Player of the Year (2005). As a Lady Vol, Retamoza finished in the top-10 in 17 tournaments, including four first-place, five runner-up and two third-place finishes. She was selected to the All-SEC team three consecutive years and a National Golf Coaches Association All-American twice. The Mexican National team member is competing at Mission Hills as an individual.
Shepley has been making rounds on the LPGA Futures Tour since graduating from the Lady Vol uniform in 2005. During her time at UT, Shepley earned three All-SEC awards and an honorable mention All-American nod. Shepley, who hails from Oakville, Ontario took home 14 top-ten honors while at Rocky Top and was the Lady Vol top-scorer at the 2005 SEC Tournament when her 221 earned her third place.
In this 72-hole sectional, the field will be cut to the top 70 players after round two on Wednesday. After the final round, the top-30 will advance to the LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament to be held Nov.29-Dec.3 at the LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Fla.
