ABOUT CHATTANOOGA GOLF
CHATTANOOGA—The Chattanooga Mocs women’s golf team is at the midpoint of the 2022-23 season. It’s hard not to be wowed by the work of seniors Dorota Zalewska at the tower
To say she’s built on an impressive junior year is like saying Chattanooga is a fantastic golf community. Any effort to overstate it falls woefully short. It’s been quite the journey, a trek if you will, for the native of Szczecin, Poland. She averaged 77.10 strokes per 18 over her first 21 career events with a win, two top 5s and three top 10s. Then it was like she flipped a switch.
“I’ve always been confident in my abilities, but not always my situation early on,” she began. “I believed I would win tournaments and do something great here. That’s my thing. Every stage of my life, I want to leave my name somewhere.
“I was burned out on golf in that first year. I remember sitting with my parents crying thinking this was over. Then COVID hit, and I didn’t even touch a club for maybe two-and-a-half months. Then, I just started again from the beginning. One of my close friends gave me good advice. Golf is my work. Focus completely on it in practice and on the course, but when I get home, just switch off.
“That was the first step that made me more relaxed and not as mentally exhausted.”
Not many positive stories have been spun from the COVID pandemic. However, in her last 15 tournaments, Zalewska has two wins, two runner-ups, six top 5s and 10 top 10s. The scoring average is a tremendous 72.10 over 47 cards, +0.36 vs. par over that span.
Her opening five events this year has her among the elite of college golf. Zalewska is No. 74 in the Golfstat rankings and 78 in the Golfweek/Sagarin Ratings. She’s 9-under par at this juncture.
The numbers jump out at you. Prior to fall 2021, she had four pairs or better cards. She’s registered 29 in her last 47 passing Hall of Famer Emma de Groot’s ’11 record of 32. Eleven of those rounds were in the 60s which bests Emily McLennan’s ’16 record of 10. That’s 11 in just roughly a year-and-a-half’s schedule.
At this point, she looks to shatter her own school record season average of 72.53 from last year sitting at 71.20 currently. Her career mark of 74.86 is third behind de Groot (74.58) and McLennan (74.71), but she’s closing fast. Meeting de Groot at her UTC Hall of Fame induction was a jumping off point as well.
“When Emma got her Hall of Fame night,” Zalewska recalled. “We were there for a dinner and coach was just, you know, showing us that she did this, she did that…at that time, it was kind of like a fire to me. I was like, whoa, now I will show you.
“Who will be the next one? I want to have my name in the Hall of Fame. That’s my goal. Hopefully, maybe one day, I don’t know how exactly it works, but it means a lot of hard work and dedication as well.”
She leads a young Mocs group just starting their own odysseys. Sophomores Megan Docherty, Carolina Hortian, Nieves Martin and freshmen Kera Healey spirit Isabella Yu Lee can all look at the humble beginnings for Zalewska and know what’s ahead for them by applying the drive and work ethic to take the next step, although maybe not make it look so easy.
For her part, Zalewska quickly shares her optimism for the quintet.
“They’re playing so much better than I did my freshman year,” she concluded. “They’re in a great spot, but now it’s more of if they want to grow. Because of course we want to win as a team, and like coach, we want to make history. It’s having that desire to practice more so you can play better and experience that growth as a group, not just as an individual.”
Zalewska and the Mocs return to the tee in February opening the spring portion of the schedule in New Orleans. The ladies take the field at the Tulane Classic Feb. 12-14 at English Turn Golf Club.
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