When the postseason awards were announced on Tuesday after the final round of the Big West Conference Championships, freshman Chelsea Stelzmiller wasn’t expecting it.
But one by one, all the awards seemed to go to her.
Stelzmiller earned Player of the Year honors, Freshman of the Year and a spot on the First Team All-Conference roster in her standout inaugural season with the UC Davis women’s golf team. She tied for first at the conference championships with a 222, helping lead the Aggies to a second-place finish behind UC Irvine.
“I was standing there, listening to them announce all of the awards and I wasn’t really expecting anything,” Stelzmiller said. “Then they say, ‘Player of the Year, from UC Davis…’ and still, I’m not expecting anything – I think it’s someone else. But they called my name and it was pretty cool.”
For the season, the Placerville native averaged 74.1 strokes per round and broke into the top-ten at seven tournaments – not to mention she broke a school record with a 3-under 69. Before Stelzmiller, no female Aggie had ever shot a 69, but Stelzmiller did it three times.
Joining Stelzmiller was freshman Alice Kim, who also received first-team accolades. Kim participated in only four tournaments this spring but averaged 75.4 strokes per 18 and earned her top finish when she tied for second at the NCAA Western Regional Preview on Apr. 1.
Receiving second-team honors were senior Sydney Roughton, junior Bryana Gregory, and freshman Katie Sisler.
UC Irvine will receive the automatic bid to May’s NCAA Division I West Regional, but UC Davis is hoping to receive an at-large bid that will be announced on Monday.
“There is a committee that is assigned to naming all of the at-large bids for Regionals based on their performance during the year,” Stelzmiller said. “We had a really good season so I think we have a great chance this Monday. Our team will be really disappointed if we don’t make it.”
MATT MILLER can be reached at sports@californiaaggie.com.
