Since being elevated to varsity sport status in 1974, the women's golf program at the University of North Carolina has experienced nothing but success. Now led by sixth-year head coach Sally Austin, the Tar Heels have won 30 team tournament championships, 34 individual tournament championships and finished in the top 25 nationally 15 times in the program's history.

Austin continues to cultivate the tradition established by longtime head coach Dot Gunnells, who guided the UNC program for 18 seasons, as the Carolina women's golf program thrives in its third decade of existence.

Five Tar Heels have been named All-America, with Katie Peterson being the only two-time honoree: Linda Mescan (third-team, 1982), Page Marsh (third-team, 1983), Peterson (third team, 1988 and first-team, 1989), Donna Andrews (second-team, 1989) and Kimberly Byham (first-team, 1993).

In addition, seven Carolina golfers have been named to All-Atlantic Coast Conference teams on eight occasions over the years: Page Marsh (1985), Debbie Doniger (1992), Kimberly Byham (1992 and 1993), Jessica Wood (1993), Kelly McCall (1997), Marcy Newton (1997) and Megan Morgan (1998).

Gunnells, who retired in 1993, was named ACC Coach of the Year after the 1984-85 season. Marcy Newton was chosen as the ACC Rookie of the Year in 1997.

Evolution of a Program

The 1970s found the Tar Heel program in a building stage. Players such as Sally Austin and Stephanie Kornegay led the women's team to 14 tournament titles between 1974 and 1980.

By the beginning of the 1980s, Gunnells had developed a program that was known throughout the collegiate ranks for its overall outstanding play. The Tar Heels were led by a host of talented players with Linda Mescan, a third-team All-America in 1981-82, and Page Marsh, a third-team All-America in 1982-83, leading the way. Carolina golfers won eight team tournament championships and 11 individual titles from 1980 to 1986.

The 1988-89 season can be described as perhaps the Tar Heels' finest overall campaign. That year found the Tar Heels with a strong starting five which included two players named All-America at the conclusion of the season, Katie Peterson and Donna Andrews. In addition, Gunnells was named East Region Coach of the Year for 1988-89. Carolina seized five tournament titles out of the 10 tournaments it entered and went on to the best-ever national finish for a UNC women's golf team, eighth-place in the NCAA Championships held at Stanford University.

The 1990s have continued to bring great women's golf success to Chapel Hill. Since 1988-89, three other Carolina teams have finished eighth at NCAAs. The 1991-92, 1992-93 and 1994-95 squads all finished in eighth place at the NCAA Championships.

The 1991 team finished 25th in the nation for the first of five straight top-25 finishes. The 1992 Tar Heels finished eighth at the NCAA Championship becoming the school's first-ever Atlantic Coast Conference title-winning team. Led by Debbie Doniger and Kimberly Byham, Carolina defeated Florida State by two strokes to capture the ACC title. Dongier also won the ACC individual crown in '92.

In 1992-93 the Tar Heels were a senior-dominated team led by Byham, a Raleigh, N.C., native who won the Tar Heel Invitational and finished third at the ACC Tournament. Byham went on to win the NCAA East Regional at Baton Rouge, La., and was named the Tar Heels' second-ever first-team All-America.

Carolina placed second at the 1993 ACC Championships and again finished eighth at the NCAA Tournament. That marked the third time Carolina had placed eighth at NCAAs in a five-year span. Enter Austin as Head Coach

The 1993-94 squad, Sally Austin's first as the Carolina head coach, picked up right where its predecessors had left off. The '94 Tar Heels finished second at the ACC Championships before going on to finish 16th at the NCAA Championships. That was the Tar Heels' fourth consecutive top-25 finish and the fifth in six years.

The 1994-95 team earned UNC's fourth top-10 NCAA finish in six years. Austin led Carolina to an eighth-place finish at the NCAA Championships, tying the highest-ever finish by UNC. Sophomore Kelly McCall was the Tar Heels' top finisher in four of six spring tournaments. McCall won the first individual title of her collegiate career, the 1995 Duke Invitational, in a playoff with Wake Forest's Stephanie Neill.

The 1995-96 team posted a third-place finish at the ACC Championships and finished 12th at the NCAA East Regional, just barely missing the cut as only the top 11 teams advanced on to the NCAA Championships. McCall carded a fourth-place finish at the Tar Heel Invitational and a seventh-place finish at the ACC Championships. Rachel Poston garnered GTE Academic All-America honors and and was named to the District III At-Large team in the University division.

The 1996-97 squad finished third at the ACC Championships and tied for 10th at the NCAA East Regional, once again failing to qualify for the NCAA Championships as just seven teams advanced to the NCAAs. McCall and Marcy Newton were selected to the All-ACC team and Newton was named the ACC Rookie of the Year. The Tar Heels carded seven top three finishes in their 10 tournaments, winning the first tournament of the spring campaign, the Fripp Island Intercollegiate. Two Tar Heels won three individual titles as McCall was victorious twice and Newton once.

The 1997-98 team finished 15th at the NCAA Championships after placing third at the ACC Tournament. Carolina won the Betsy Rawls Longhorn Classic and Megan Morgan was selected to the All-ACC team.

In the wake of the highly successful Tar Heel teams of the mid- and late-1980s, Carolina's squads in the '90s certainly have continued a tradition worthy of one of the finest collegiate women's golf programs in the nation.

Carolina's Greatest Golfers

Along with their many accomplishments in overall competition, five Tar Heels have also received All-America recognition.

Linda Mescan was the first to earn All-America honors, garnering third-team recognition in 1981-82. A native of York, Pa., Mescan captured three individual championships in her four years in Chapel Hill. She led her team to a pair of team championships in the 1981-82 season, captured the Duke Fall Invitational individually that same year and was named a third-team All-America by the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women Region II at the end of the season.

Mescan's teammate and friend Page Marsh received the same honor after the 1982-83 season. She captured the Pat Bradley Intercollegiate and Duke Spring Invitational championships and placed 19th in the NCAAs as an individual entrant on her way to being named the second Tar Heel All-America. Her career capped four years that saw her win three individual championships.

At the completion of the 1988-89 season, two seniors, Katie Peterson and Donna Andrews, were the next Tar Heels to be named All-America. Peterson captured three individual titles on her way to becoming the first first-team All-America in UNC history after the 1988-89 season. She took five individual championships in her four years at Carolina and also helped her team to an eighth-place finish in the NCAA Championships in 1989, a tournament in which she finished 11th. She is the only five-time individual medalist in Tar Heel history. Peterson also joined Kandi Kessler as one of only two women from Carolina to ever play on the prestigious United States Curtis Cup squad. Kessler was a member of the 1986 Curtis Cup team while Peterson was on the 1990 squad.

Andrews, a native of Lynchburg, Va., also was tapped for All-America accolades in 1988-89. Although she only won one individual tournament title while at Carolina, the 1988 Lady Paladin Invitational, her overall consistent play earned her the recognition necessary to be voted a second-team All-America. She captured third place at the NCAA Championships in 1989. Andrews later qualified for the LPGA Tour on her first try and placed 33rd in her first tournament. She continues to star as a touring pro and was No. 1 on the LPGA money list midway through the 1998 season. Her third-place finish at the 1989 NCAA Championships is the best by a Carolina women's golfer in that prestigious event in school history. Andrews finished in the top three in the 1992 and 1993 United States Women's Open Championships, a truly remarkable accomplishment.

The names and faces have changed throughout the years, but the commitment to success remains the same for the women's Carolina golf program.

Top 25 National Finishes

1976-77  20th (AIAW)
1977-78  10th (AIAW)
1980-81  19th (AIAW)
1981-82  16th-tied (NCAA)
         12th (AIAW)
1983-84  12th (NCAA)
1984-85  18th (NCAA)
1985-86  18th (NCAA)
1988-89  8th (NCAA)
1990-91  25th (NCAA)
1991-92  8th (NCAA)
1992-93  8th (NCAA)
1993-94  16th (NCAA)
1994-95  8th (NCAA)
1997-98  15th (NCAA)
1974-75:  North Carolina AIAW Tournament
          Lady Tar Heel Invitational
1975-76:  Mary Baldwin Invitational
          Lady Tar Heel Invitational
1976-77:  Blue Ridge Lady Invitational
          North Carolina AIAW Tournament
1977-78:  Duke Fall Invitational
1978-79:  Big Four Tournament
          North Carolina AIAW Tournament
          Lady Buckeye Invitational
          Lady Kat Invitational
1979-80:  Lady Tar Heel Invitational
          North Carolina AIAW Tournament
1980-81:  Penn State Invitational
          Duke Spring Invitational
1981-82:  Blue Ridge Mountain Invitational
          Duke Spring Invitational
1985-86:  Lady Tar Heel Invitational
          Duke Spring Invitational
1988-89:  Pat Bradley Invitational
          North/South Collegiate
          Duke Spring Invitational
          Lady Paladin Invitational
          Woodbridge Intercollegiate
1990-91:  Duke Fall Invitational
1991-92:  Lady Tar Heel Invitational
1992-93:  Lady Tar Heel Invitational
          Duke Fall Invitational
1996-97:  Fripp Island Intercollegiate
1997-98:  Betsy Rawls Longhorn Classic

All-America Selections

1981-82:  Linda Mescan (third-team)
1982-83:  Page Marsh (third-team)
1987-88:  Katie Peterson (third-team)
1988-89:  Katie Peterson (first-team)
          Donna Andrews (second-team)
1992-93:  Kimberly Byham (first-team)

All-ACC Honorees

1984-85:  Page Marsh
          Dot Gunnells
		  (ACC Coach of the Year)
1991-92:  Kimberly Byham
          Debbie Doniger
1992-93:  Kimberly Byham
          Jessica Wood
1996-97:  Kelly McCall
          Marcy Newton
          (ACC Rookie of the Year)
1997-98   Megan Morgan

All-Time Tournament Individual Medalists

Sally Austin
              1974-75 UNC-CH Invitational
Mindy Moore
              1975-76 Lady Tar Heel Invitational
              1976-77 Mary Baldwin Invitational
Stephanie Kornegay
              1976-77 North Carolina AIAW Tournament
              1976-77 Duke Best Ball
              1977-78 Duke Fall Invitational
              1978-79 Lady Kat Invitational
Susan Cary
              1976-77 Duke Best Ball
Linda Mescan
              1979-80 North Carolina AIAW Tournament
              1980-81 Duke Spring Invitational
              1981-82 Duke Fall Invitational
Cathy Reynolds
              1980-81 Penn State Invitational
Jill Nesbitt
              1981-82 North Carolina AIAW Tournament
Page Marsh
              1981-82 Duke Spring Invitational
              1982-83 Pat Bradley Intercollegiate
              1982-83 Duke Spring Invitational
Cathy Johnston
              1982-83 Taylor Made Memphis Intercollegiate
Kandi Kessler
              1985-86 Lady Kat Invitational
Katie Peterson
              1985-86 Duke Spring Invitational
              1987-88 Lady Seminole Invitational
              1988-89 Memphis State Invitational
              1988-89 North/South Collegiate
              1988-89 Duke Spring Invitational
Donna Andrews
              1988-89 Lady Paladin Invitational
Jessica Wood
              1990-91 Lady Seminole Invitational
              1990-91 Duke Fall Invitational
Debbie Doniger
              1992 ACC Championship
Kimberly Byham
              1992 Lady Tar Heel Invitational
              1993 Woodbridge Collegiate
              1993 NCAA Eastern Regional
Kelly McCall
              1995 Duke Invitational
              1996 Lady Tar Heel Invitational
              1997 Lady Gamecock Classic
Marcy Newton
              1997 Betsy Rawls Longhorn Classic
			  
17 all-time medalists  34 all-time individual titles