Women’s Golf Ready to Tee Off on Final Tournament of Fall Schedule

Sunday, October 29

Hot Springs, Ark. (Diamante C.C.)

All Day

Stephen F. Austin

Little Rock Women's Golf Classic

Women’s Golf Ready to Tee Off on Final Tournament of Fall Schedule

10/28/2017 11:59:00 AM | Women's Golf

Ladyjacks take on Little Rock’s Women’s Golf Classic in Hot Springs, Arkansas, for final tournament of 2017

By: Luke Bolanos | Assistant Director of Athletic Media Relations

Throughout the 2017-18 season, SFAJacks.com will feature a women's golfer or coach with a Q&A leading up to each of the Ladyjacks' tournaments. Today, highlighting sophomore Paola Cortes.

Live Scoring

NACOGDOCHES, Texas – After a two-week break from competition, the Stephen F. Austin women's golf team will wrap up its fall slate of tournaments with its fifth event of the semester at the Little Rock Women's Golf Classic. Competing at the Diamante Country Club, in Hot Springs, Arkansas, the Ladyjacks will play in their fourth different state this fall.

A total of 15 teams will compete in the three-day, 54-hole tournament including fellow Southland Conference members Central Arkansas, Houston Baptist and Sam Houston State. Arkansas State, Jacksonville State, Louisiana-Monroe, Missouri State, Northern Iowa, Oral Roberts, Utah Valley, UT Arlington, UTEP and Rio-Grande Valley will join host Little Rock and SFA to complete the field.

Redshirt juniors Jamee Jorgensen (Boerne, Texas) and Erica Lautensack (Arlington, Texas), along with sophomores Alexandra Batista (Trophy Club, Texas) and Paola Cortes (Allen, Texas) and true freshman Alexis Szewczyk (McKinney, Texas) will take on the par-72, 6,076-yard course over the next three days. The Ladyjacks are coming off of a ninth-place finish at Louisiana-Monroe's Fred Marx Invitational but are looking for a strong outing to finish off the fall season after placing third out of 11 teams at Sam Houston State's Bearkat Invitational at the beginning of the month. SFA tallied a season-low 58-over 910 at the Bearkat Invitational as the Ladyjacks earned four top-20 finishes. Batista led SFA, tying for seventh with a 13-over 226, while Jorgensen and Lautensack both turned in ties for 11th with scores of 15-over 228.

In 2016, the Ladyjacks finished 10th out of 16 teams at the Little Rock Women's Golf Classic and registered a team score of 59-over 923. Central Arkansas captured the event title with a 27-over 891 as University of Missouri-Kansas City's Cynthia Diaz, UCA's Brenda Gonzalez and UTEP's June Ting all tied for the individual championship after shooting a 2-over 216.

The 2017 version of the tournament will get underway at 8:30 a.m. Sunday followed by a 9 a.m. start Monday. Tuesday's third and final round will begin at 8:30 a.m. with a shotgun start. SFA is paired with Jacksonville State and Oral Roberts for the opening round Sunday with players teeing off every 10 minutes from hole No. 1 starting at 8:30 a.m.

Live scoring of the Little Rock Women's Golf Classic can be followed via Golfstat.com.

Getting to know sophomore Paola Cortes

Cortes, a native of Allen, Texas (Allen H.S.), competed in 24 rounds of golf as a true freshman in 2016-17, recording a scoring average of 80.00 and having an outstanding start to her collegiate career. She shot a 5-over 218 at the 2016 Incarnate Word Lady Cardinal Classic to tie for third in her first college tournament. The three-round 218 score is tied for the lowest 54-hole total in program history. So far this fall Cortes has competed in all four tournaments and registered a scoring average of 81.00, shooting a season-low 22-over 235 to tie for 26th as an individual at Sam Houston State's Bearkat Invitational. Most recently, Cortes tied for the Ladyjacks' highest finisher at the Fred Marx Invitational when she tied for 30th with Batista with a three-round total of 28-over 244.

Why did you choose to come and play at SFA?
"I chose to come to SFA because I felt like the calm atmosphere was a really good fit for me and the friendliness of everyone here in Nacogdoches. Also getting to play the game I love is a big reason I chose to play for SFA, the courses here are pretty challenging and I felt like it was exactly the challenge I needed to improve my game."

Who is the most influential person in your life, and why?
"The most influential people in my life are my parents, they are hardest working people I know. They have taught me so many life lessons and do so much for me. They are always very supportive of me and I am truly blessed to call them my parents."

What are your top three to five values in life?
"Respect, loyalty, honesty, dedication, and hard work are the top values I live by."

What is your best life lesson learned in college and/or golf?
"The best life lessons I've learned from playing college golf are to never give up, never stop improving and always be coachable. One of the biggest things golf has taught me is how to handle both success and failure. I find golf and life very similar in the sense that in order to be successful, you must learn from your successes and your mistakes to improve as a golfer and as a person. Another big life lesson I've learned is to take the positives from every situation."

What is your dream job?
"My dream job is to have a successful career playing professional golf on the LPGA tour. The two biggest goals that keep me motivated are to play for Puerto Rico in the Olympics and to play successfully on the LPGA tour."

Who would play you in a movie/TV series?
"I think Jennifer Lawrence would do a great job at playing me in a movie or TV series. She is a phenomenal actress, she knows how to be both funny and serious."

What is your biggest fear? Is there a story behind it?
"My absolute biggest fear is spiders. There isn't a personal story behind that fear, I am just terrified by them."

What is one thing that no one knows about Paola?
"One thing no one knows about me is that I love Michael Jackson. I can sing and dance to almost every one of his songs. I love his music and believe he is the most talented performer to ever live."

-SFA-