New Era of Troy Women’s Golf Opens Sunday

Sunday, September 6

Pawley's Island, S.C.

All Day

Troy University

Golfweek Challenge

New Era of Troy Women’s Golf Opens Sunday

9/5/2026 1:00:00 PM | Golf (W)

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By: Troy Athletics Communications

TROY, Ala. – The JD Lamm era of Troy women's golf opens Sunday as the Trojans head to Pawley's Island, S.C., and the Caledonia Country Club for the annual Golfweek Challenge. Teams will play 18 holes Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.

Lamm took over as Troy's head coach this past spring and inherited a young roster, with only one returning player who had played in more than eight tournaments a season ago. A highly successful coach at Wingate, Lamm is fresh off a runner-up finish at the NCAA Division II Men's National Championship and a first-place finish in the stroke play portion of the NCAA Division II Women's Golf Championship.

"We're excited to get started," Lamm said. "The team has been working very hard, and we've been focusing in practice on the scoring areas, 100 yards and in. We've also spent a lot of time on the mental aspect of the game and course management; that's going to be a big focus for us this week.

"We need to play smart golf and reduce mental errors. The practice round is going to be a big deal for us," Lamm said. "We're going to do a lot of prep going in because we're such a young team. We're going to know which pins to attack, which areas of the green to attack and really use the practice round to our advantage."

Manya Saini returns for her fourth year and is the Trojans' most experienced leader, coming off a season in which she played in 10 events and finished second on the team with a 76.80 stroke average and 5.00 score vs. par. She played her best golf down the stretch, including tying for 10th at the Sun Belt Championship, thanks to a 4-under in the opening round.

The rest of Lamm's lineup is ripe with inexperience, as three first-year players and second-year Evelyn Tankersley will hit the course for the opener.

Tankersley played in four events for the Trojans last year during her rookie campaign, while Roberta Alvarez, Anna Roldan Sewald and Mara Dajer will make their collegiate debuts.

"Our team chemistry and culture have been pretty easy this year," Lamm said. "The girls get along great, and I'm really happy with the positivity I see every day at practice. They have a great work ethic. We are young, so it's going to be a new experience for a lot of people this week. We're going to see some youth this year, but I also think we're going to see a lot of good things out there.

"We just have to play intelligent golf," Lamm said. "We have to have intelligent targets. I want us to be aggressive, but I think there's a big difference between playing aggressive and playing stupid. The number of times that the pin will be our target is maybe two or three times per round, so we have to be intelligent with our targets and miss in the correct areas."

The Field
Troy, Miami, Mercer, Old Dominion, UNC Asheville, Lipscomb, Queens, UNC Wilmington, Coastal Carolina, Arkansas State, Texas A&M Corpus-Christi, UNC Greensboro, Radford, East Tennessee State, USC Upstate, Morehead State, Presbyterian, High Point, Memphis, Central Arkansas, Campbell, Austin Peay, Stetson, Stephen F. Austin