The Alabama women’s golf team finished first place at the Tar Heel Invitational on Oct. 10, highlighted by an individual title from junior Brooke Pancake, the first of her career. The team has topped their competitors in two of their three tournaments so far, and Pancake has been an integral part in accomplishing these wins.
Last season, the team achieved first place at the Southeastern Conference Championship, where Pancake led the team tied for fifth overall. In addition to playing well, she was awarded the NCAA Elite 88 award for the highest GPA at the NCAA Championships.
“She’s a very good player,” head coach Mic Potter said. “She’s worked hard over the last two years and sets a good example academically as well. She’s an outstanding student. She’s just a great teammate and a great girl to have with us.”
At the Tar Heel Invitational, Pancake went to a playoff for first place against LSU golfer Megan McChrystal. Pancake came out with the win and finished with a career-best 11-under-par 205.
“I knew I was tied with Megan,” Pancake said, “but I figured they would just leave it as a tie for first place between the two of us. It was nice to be put in a playoff situation and for there to be a distinct first place. It felt great. It’s always been a goal since I’ve been in college to have an individual win.”
Pancake has been waiting for her first individual title for the past three years while at Alabama.
“I felt really hungry [going into the Tar Heel Invitational],” she said. “I had played well the first two tournaments and felt really confident in my game. I was just hoping I could put myself in contention and do something with it this game, whereas, the first two tournaments were big learning experiences of knowing how to mentally approach the last day.”
Pancake has notched top-10 finishes in all three tournaments this season.
“It’s very easy to watch Brooke play because she hits almost every fairway and hits most of her greens,” Potter said. “It’s a really low-stress kind of round. She’s fun to watch and coach because you don’t have to worry about her too much.”
Even with all of Pancake’s success, she said she feels she can always improve and become a better player.
“I still have a lot that I can work on,” Pancake said. “Even though I had a career low, there are still a couple of putts that I missed. I’m taking from it and trying to eliminate as many mistakes as I can from that. You can never really get complacent with a new record or a new standard; you still always want to beat that one.”
Pancake said she is looking forward to the rest of the season with her team and is hoping to keep working hard to produce the low scores seen from her so far.
“It’s kind of like the hard work you’ve put into the last couple of years has paid off,” Pancake said. “All of us put a lot of work in and it’s nice to know the hard work is taking you to the next level. For our team’s sake, we have so much talent and potential, and to finally reach that level, it’s almost a relief.”
