Green becomes USF’s first representative in the Arnold Palmer Cup
NORMAN, Okla.,April 23, 2024 –University of South Florida senior Melanie Green, who posted two individual wins and led the Bulls to three wins on the season, has been selected to represent Team USA the 2024 Arnold Palmer Cup.
Green is one of 12 members of the United States women’s team that will compete against an international team in matches that will be played July 5-7 at Lahinch Golf Club in Lahinch, Ireland.
“I’m just incredibly honored and excited to represent my country in an event like the Arnold Palmer!”, said Green. “I’m not completely sure of what to expect other than it’s going to be an awesome atmosphere and some really great memories!”
The Arnold Palmer Cup was co-founded by Arnold Palmer and the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) and began at the Bay Hill Club & Lodge, Orlando, Fla., in 1997. The event is a Ryder Cup-style tournament featuring the top men’s and women’s university/college golfers matching the United States against a team of international players.
“MG is a patriot who loves her country!”, said Coach Erika Brennan. “What an honor it is for her to represent Team USA at the pinnacle event in college golf. She will compete with pride and purpose, and we can’t wait to watch her represent Team USA in Ireland this summer. She earned a spot on this team by playing her game authentically and unapologetically and she is so deserving of every good thing that comes her way.”
In the 2023-24 season Green, who competed in the 2024 Augusta National Women’s Amateur, was named the American Athletic Conference Golfer of the week three times in the Spring, and swept the league’s Fall honors, as she was named the September and October AAC Women’s Golfer of the Month.
With her win at the Mountain View Collegiate, Green became the sixth player in program history with two or more wins in a season and the first since Natalia Villavicencio in 2018-19. Christina Miller in 2011-12 won three times, the program record.
Green has finished in the top 10 in nine of the 10 tournaments during the 2023-24 season and in the top four in eight events. She has shot par or better in 29 of 30 rounds this season.
With Green leading the way, South Florida has finished in the top four, with three wins, in nine of 10 events in the 2023-24 season, including a third-place finish in the American Athletic Conference Championship, which ties for the highest finish in the tournament in program history.
At the Westbrook Invitational, Green tied her career-best and program-record 54-hole score of 205 (-11). Her stellar play helped pace the Bulls to a new program record for low round, shooting a 271 (-17) and a low 54-hole total 836 (-28), while matching the program record for a 36-hole score (565). USF’s previous 54-hole record was 852 set last season.
The senior tallied her second collegiate win to open the Spring as she helped lead South Florida to its second team win of the season at the FAU Paradise Invitational in early February to earn AAC Golfer of the Week recognition.
Green has picked up this season where she left off after a record-breaking season in 2022-23 in which she was named a WGCA All-American Honorable Mention. A three-time AAC All-Conference Team member, Green owns multiple program records, including season scoring average (71.03), low round relative to par (-8), and career scoring average (72.13 entering the 2023-24 season).
Individually in October, she posted two top-five finishes. She finished third in the Dale McNamara Invitational and second in the Hurricane Invitational. In the two tournaments, she was a combined 18 under par.
In September, she posted two top-five finishes in USF’s first two tournaments of the season. Green finished tied for second in the Glass City Invitational and tied for fourth in the Badger Invitational.
About USF Women’s Golf
The 2023-24 campaign will be the Bulls’ sixth full season under head coach Erika Brennan. South Florida is among the fastest-rising programs in the country, as they climbed 75 spots in the national Golfstat rankings following Brennan’s first season in 2018-19 and have captured five tournament titles under Brennan, while setting numerous program scoring records under her leadership. Senior standout Melanie Green has been an all-conference performer in each of her first three seasons, qualified for the 2022 NCAA Regional as an individual and was named a 2023 All-American Honorable Mention. Green and the Bulls reached the NCAA Regional as a team in 2023, marking the program’s first postseason appearance in 11 years.
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