Razorbacks honored
FAYETTEVILLE – University of Arkansas golfers Kelli Shean, Emily Tubert and Emma Lavy all earned Southeastern Conference honors the league office announced today.
Tubert, a freshman from Burbank, Calif., earned SEC Co-Freshman of the Year honors, and is a member of the All-SEC First-Team and All-SEC Freshman Team.
Shean, a senior from Cape Town, South Africa, was an All-SEC Second-Team selection and Lavy, a Fayetteville, Ark., native was selected to the All-SEC Freshman Team.
"Emily has had a fantastic freshman year," Arkansas head coach Shauna Estes-Taylor said. "She has had a solid year from start to finish with a couple more events to go and continues to grow and get better every day. She is very goal driven and one of her goals was to be the SEC Freshman of the Year and she put herself in position to do that. She sets the bar high and does a good job working toward that."
Tubert has won three events as a college freshman and picked up a tie for fourth place in her first SEC Championship last week. She carded a school record 11-under par 205 at the Las Vegas Showdown posted a first round 63 which was a course and event record, a school record and is believed to be the lowest competitive collegiate round in recent memory.
Tubert has a national rating of seven, eight rounds in the 60s this season and 17 rounds at par or better. She is currently the No. 3 ranked player in the SEC and the top-ranked freshman in the league. She ranked No. 13 in the nation this week.
Shean was a first-team selection and All-American as a junior and adds another SEC honor to her resume this week with her second-team selection. She is ranked 54th in the country this week, 12th in the SEC and second on the team with a 73.50 stroke average.
Shean burst onto the national scene this summer at the 2010 U.S. Women’s Open firing a one-under par in the first round to leave the course in the lead. She finished the day tied for second overall and instantly became a media favorite.
Although her position did not hold, Shean made the cut and will forever be remembered as having led the U.S. Women’s Open as an amateur.
"Obviously this is a great honor to be recognized in our conference," Estes-Taylor said. "This says a lot about her consistency and way she plays the game. Kelli has done a great job over four years and continues to work hard. She continues to put herself in contention to win and she been a very big part of our success this season."
Lavy, a graduate of Fayetteville High, picked up All-SEC Freshman Team honors. She is averaging 75.57 and is tied for fourth on the team after making the cut for all 10 tournaments this season.
Lavy put together a solid showing in her first-ever SEC Championship tying for 12th overall with a 221 with rounds of 74-73-74. She is currently the eighth-ranked freshman in the league.
"I’m so proud of Emma for just sticking with it and working hard," Estes-Taylor said. "She continues to put in the effort and prepares mentally to play great golf. Emma has done a great job as a freshman stepping up and helping our golf team. She has made so many strides and I’m glad that she’s being honored because it shows hard work pays off. Emma is full of good, positive energy and really brings our golf team together. She is a great glue for our squad in more ways than just swinging a golf club. I’m so proud of her."
The trio of Razorbacks guides Arkansas into the NCAA Central Regional Championship next week. Arkansas competes Wednesday-Friday at Warren Golf Course in South Bend, Ind. The top eight teams from each of three NCAA Regional sites move on to the NCAA Championships.
