Gone are the depth issues that plagued the women’s golf team last year and in are a pair of talented sophomore transfers and a trio of promising freshmen, alleviating the Bulldogs depth issues and struggles to secure a quality fourth team score in the process.

And those newcomers took little time proving their worth Tuesday, helping the No. 14 Bulldogs to a fifth place finish at the Hooters’ NGCA Collegiate Match Play Championship in Daytona Beach, Fla.

Following a match play loss to eventual champion No. 11 LSU and a solid afternoon victory over Chattanooga on Monday, the Bulldogs dominated No. 7 Alabama on Tuesday with a 4-1 victory to finish off their tournament and proved to many people that they are deserving of a ranking higher than No. 14.

Sophomore Marta Silva Zamora started the Dogs off in the No. 1 spot with a 4&2 victory over Alabama’s Camilla Lennarth. Then, sophomore transfer Milena Savich continued her terrific early season play with the Dogs, sliding past the Tide’s Jennfer Kirby for a 2&1 victory, posting a 2-0-1 record over the three matches to go along with a tied for third individual finish in qualifying on Sunday.

After the opening victories by the Lady Dogs’ two super sophomores, head coach Kelly Hester followed with freshmen Emilie Burger, who lost 4&2 to Brooke Pancake. However, her freshman teammate Kendall Wright had her back, narrowly squeaking by Rhea Nair for the deciding third point with a 1-up victory. Senior Carolina Andrade won her team’s fourth and final point with a dominating 5&3 victory over Helena Blomberg.

The addition of three newcomers to the lineup for Georgia is a welcome sign for the Lady Dogs after just last year, at the same tournament, senior Mallory Hetzel had to leave the event to compete in the Duramed Futures Tour Qualifying School, forcing the Bulldogs to forfeit one of their five matches against rival Florida.

However, things are remarkably different this year, as Hester was able to leave at home both senior Melissa Brody and sophomore Tess Fordham, who both played a considerable amount last season.

The Lady Bulldogs will be back in action Sept. 13 to14 at the Cougar Classic where they set school records last year in a dominating victory.