Collins posts impressive collegiate golf debut

The Gulf South Conference (GSC) last month named Spring Hill College redshirt freshman Melanie Collins to its 2020-21 All-Conference second team, marking the first time a Badger women’s golfer has earned an All-Conference spot since joining the association during the 2014-15 season.

 An Apalachicola native and 2019 graduate of Franklin County High School, Collins paced the Badgers this year as the top finisher at each of the team’s five tournaments this spring.

Spring Hill,  the oldest Catholic college in the Southeast and the third oldest Jesuit college in the U.S., did not participate in the fall 2020 semester schedule due to Novel Coronavirus protocols.

Collins registered two Top 5 finishes and three Top 10 finishes in 2021 while maintaining a 77.41 average (+5 relative to par) over 13.5 rounds. In her collegiate debut, she finished 3rd at the University of Mobile’s Ram Invitational on February 22-23 with a +10 score over two rounds.

 At the Dancing Rabbit Invitational in Philadelphia, Miss. on March 15-16, Collins placed 5th with a +8 score over 2.5 rounds of the weather-shortened event and at the annual University of West Florida Argonaut Invitational on April 5-6, she posted a season-low even-par 72 score in the first round.

Collins finished the season with a 14th place finish at the 2021 GSC Championships held at Magnolia Grove Golf Course in Mobile, Ala. totaling a +20, 236 score.

This summer, Collins has been playing regularly at St. James Bay and works at Aunt Ebby’s Ice Cream shop on St. George Island.

In the fall, she’ll play a five-tournament schedule, and six tournaments in the spring, for Spring Hill.

“I love Spring Hill,” she said. “My teammates and coaches have been awesome.”