University of Tennessee Athletics
Record-Setting Newell Only Getting Started
May 26, 2016 | Women's Golf
By Brian Rice, UTsports.com
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Competing as a part of Tennessee's run to match play at the NCAA Championships as a freshman in 2015 helped set the stage for Anna Newell's outstanding sophomore campaign, one capped by a fourth place finish at this year's national championship tournament.
Newell's finish, the best ever at the NCAA Championships by a Tennessee women's golfer, capped a 2015-16 season that saw six top-10 finishes in 12 events and helped to earn her WGCA First Team All-American honors.
But it was the experience gained a full year ago that played most in her record-setting performance in Eugene, Oregon last week.
"Having the year of experience and knowing what nationals would be like definitely helped," Newell said. "Knowing you would have the TV towers around and being able to adjust to that. You have to put it out of your mind. The TV towers can make good things to aim at in getting your shots to the green, but it makes it exciting. It brings you that nervous excitement and you have to adjust to it and put it out of your mind."
Another record-setting performance back in October helped Newell focus her mind with the pressure of the NCAA Championships.
In winning her first collegiate event at the Las Vegas Collegiate Showdown, Newell broke a pair of NCAA records, the 54-hole record for total strokes and the 54-hole record for relation to par, with an 18-under 198. She also broke or tied three Tennessee records, the 36-hole record, the 54-hole record and the lowest second round score.
"In the fall, having the good experiences of winning the tournament in Las Vegas and figuring out how to handle the pressure definitely helped me at nationals this year," Newell said.
She followed her sister A.J., a 2015 alumnae of both the University and the golf program, to UT thanks to a relationship built early in her golf career with Volunteer head coach Judi Pavon.
Newell knew her college destination early on in the process, just as her future head coach knew how special she should be on the golf course.
"Anna is an amazing player," Pavon said. "She will probably leave here as one of the best ever. We were really lucky, the hardest part was making sure no one stole her away during her junior golf career."
In posting a four-day score of 282 to finish fourth at the NCAA Championships, she passed former Vols Young-A Yang and Jessica Shepley, two of the program's all-time greats, for the best overall finish and lowest overall score in UT history. Yang shot a 288 to finish fifth as a junior in 2001, while Shepley carded a 286 three years later as a junior in 2004, also earning fifth place. Each would go on to compete on the LPGA Tour after their senior seasons.
As she prepares for her junior season, Newell has a thought that should be scary for her opponents and exciting for Tennessee fans: She's only getting better.
"I still think I can improve mentally going into tournaments," Newell said. "I don't think that there's ever a reason I shouldn't be confident going into a tournament."
Players Mentioned
