NEW ORLEANS – The Sun Belt Conference announced its Women’s Golf Postseason Awards on Thursday and Puneet Bajwa was named to the All-Conference Team.
All-Conference First and Second Team selections were determined based on Scoreboard rankings following the conclusion of the Sun Belt’s participation in the postseason. The awards were voted on by the league's 13 head coaches.
In her first season as a Monarch, Bajwa led ODU with a 73.56 stroke average after playing 27 rounds through nine events. Her freshman campaign saw her post four Top 20 finishes, to include coming in second place at the 2023 Evie Odom Invitational with a five-under par 205. That effort helped ODU to a fifth-place finish in the team standings and earned Bajwa Sun Belt Golfer of the Week honors on Oct. 12. She started off ODU's home tournament with an even round of 70, then carded a two-under 68 in round two and a three-under 67 for her final trip around the course at Princess Anne Country Club. The round of 67 marked ODU's lowest individual round of the 2023-24 season.
Bajwa's other top performances included tying for fourth at the Columbia Classic on Feb. 10-12 with a two-under par 214, tying for 16th at the UNF Collegiate on March 4-5 at one-under 215, and tying for 10th at the Sun Belt Championship with a final score of four-over 220. The Mohali, India native helped ODU reach the semifinals of the conference tournament, with the Monarchs falling 3-0 in match play to top-seeded Texas State. Bajwa and TXST's Yvonne Chamness were tied through 15 holes before play was halted.
Georgia Southern’s Louise Reau was named the Sun Belt Golfer of the Year in addition to Freshman of the Year and All-Conference First Team honors. Texas State’s Hailey Jones was voted Newcomer of the Year and Par Nilsson was chosen as the Coach of the Year after leading the Bobcats to their second conference title in program history and their first since 2016.
2024 Sun Belt Women's Golf Awards
Golfer of the Year – Louise Reau, Georgia Southern
Freshman of the Year – Louise Reau, Georgia Southern
Newcomer of the Year – Hailey Jones, Texas State
Coach of the Year – Par Nilsson, Texas State
All-Sun Belt First Team
Louise Reau, Georgia Southern
Hailey Jones, Texas State
Kendall Turner, James Madison
Haley Yerxa, Georgia Southern
Hannah Karg, Coastal Carolina
Junia Gabasa, Texas State
All-Sun Belt Second Team
Daniela Campillo, ULM
Puneet Bajwa, Old Dominion
Regina Plascencia, Georgia Southern
Yvonne Chamness, Texas State
Abby Newton, Georgia Southern
Momoka Ando, Southern Miss