The Crimson Tide women’s golf team rolled to victory in the inaugural Darius Rucker Intercollegiate. Sophomore Stephanie Meadow turned in a powerful effort to lead the Tide and finished Sunday with a one-under par 70 to win the tournament. The win marks Meadow’s fifth career win at Alabama, two more than any other Tide golfer in the 38-year history of the program.
Meadow, originally from Jordanstown, Northern Ireland, started her golf career at a young age. “I think my dad got me into it when I was very little,” Meadow said. “I went to little camps, and I just fell in love with it from there.”
By the time she finished high school, Meadow was one of the most-lauded recruits in the world. Her résumé already included nine titles on the International Junior Golf Tour, a win at the 2006 Irish Girls Close Championship and a gold medal at the 2009 European Girls Team Championship. These victories, and many others, brought her to the attention of coaches across the country.
Meadow chose Alabama based on the credentials of head coach Mic Potter, a member of the National Golf Coaches Hall of Fame who has sent 12 players on to the LPGA tour.
“Mainly, just Mic is a great coach, he has a really good reputation as one of the best coaches in the nation,” Meadow said. “And when I visited here, I really liked the campus and the school and I just felt like I fit right in, and there was really no other place that compared to here.”
Almost as soon as Meadow stepped on to campus, she made an impact by winning the Lady Puerto Rico Classic, Sugar Bowl Intercollegiate and NCAA East Regional, earning first-team All-American and SEC Freshman of the Year. She also set a new school record for scoring average with a 72.15 in the process.
Potter said Meadow’s early success in her collegiate career has allowed her to take on a leadership role. “How are you going to argue with her?” Potter asked. “She’s won almost a third of the tournaments she’s played in, so if I were another golfer, I would look at her and say ‘OK, what is she doing and how can that help me?’
“She’s sort of a quiet leader. She’s not going to be the one talking all the time like [Jennifer Kirby] and Hannah Collier are. Stephanie is a lot of fun. We have great team chemistry, and she’s a part of that.” Potter said one of Meadow’s strengths was her work ethic.
“I would just say that Stephanie gets it,” Potter said. “She gets it academically, she gets it golf-wise and she is driven to succeed at both. She’s great at formulating a plan that works, and not many 19-year-olds can say that.”
