One of two invites this week is Jade Sanders (Pensacola, Florida). Sanders recently graduated from Alabama State University where she competed for Hornets for four years. Her team won their third consecutive Southwestern Atlantic Conference (SWAC) Championship where she was named to the All-Conference First Team.
“It’s been a really great experience playing college golf. I miss it so much honestly. I had one extra year that I did play which was probably my best semester,” said Sanders. “It ended with the PGA Works at TPC Sawgrass which was a really fun experience. [The best part] was seeing all the HBCU’s and other players who looked like me and having my teammates there. It being my last time competing with them, it was just an awe moment. From playing a course the pros play on to realizing this is what I want to do the rest of my life, become a pro. It was a fun experience all around.”
Sanders is competing this week for the first time on the Epson Tour. Grateful not only for the experience, but also for those around her in the field who have already taken the chance to welcome her and offer advice, specifically Shasta Averyhardt. The two met earlier this week during Sanders’ first practice round on Tuesday.
“I played my practice round with Shasta and Anita [Uwadia] and they are both very sweet girls,” said Sanders. “Shasta was cluing me in on sponsors because that is something I am working on. Honestly, they were just really cool people to be around, so I enjoyed my whole practice round with them.
The ASU alumna will be teeing off tomorrow afternoon at 1:08 pm CT on No. 1 with Janie Jackson and Mia Landegren.
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