BUIES CREEK - A poorly timed call 19 years ago continues to pay off for the Campbell women's golf program.
Australian standouts Tahnia Ravnjak and Nadine White have helped the Camels earn an at-large berth into the NCAA regional that begins today at the Lonnie Poole Golf Course in Raleigh. It's the 18th postseason appearance in the last 23 years for coach John Crooks, whose first Australian player was Kylie Pratt.
Ravnjak and White chose Campbell with an assist from Pratt, a consultant with the Strive4College recruitment service and former caddie for LPGA Tour member Hee Young Park. Pratt chose the Camels following a 1996 phone call from Crooks, who received a letter from her hours after a Campbell player had made a surprise decision to leave Buies Creek.
Crooks called Pratt with little regard for the 14-hour time difference.
"I think I got her at about 3 o'clock in the morning," Crooks said. "I apologized for waking her up that early and told her of my interest."
FOUNDATION SET
Ravnjak, a junior from Cordeaux Heights, holds a team-best scoring average of 74.41, one-hundredth of a stroke better than Louise Latorre.
White, a sophomore from Brisbane, ranks fourth on the team with a 75.43 average. The other members of Campbell's standard lineup are seniors Lisbeth Brooks (75.31) and Brooke Bellomy (76.09).
The program's most accomplished alum is Pratt, an NGCA All-American as a senior in 1999. She remained at Campbell to obtain a master's degree and aspired to set up a recruiting company for Australian athletes, particularly golf and tennis players, as her sister, Nicole, was a well-known tennis pro at the time.
Pratt achieved her goal and helped Australian golfers connect with U.S. colleges, but Crooks grew tired of hearing opposing coaches from higher-profile programs talk about how much Pratt had done for them.
Her players weren't going to Buies Creek, with good reason.
Until the 2009-10 season, when Campbell announced it would be rejoining the Big South Conference, the Camels didn't compete on Sundays. That policy had limited their tournament options and created academic challenges for the players who participated in weekday events.
Once the policy changed in 2009, Pratt didn't hesitate to include Campbell as a legitimate option for her Australian prospects.
"When I got (Pratt), she was a four-handicap player, and three years later she's an All-American," Crooks said. "She found out she was coming to a place where she could get better every day, and she got better. The type of person she helped send me is the type of person where she feels like their best golf is ahead of them.
"Fortunately, I said yes to these last two."
NEW EXPERIENCE
Ravnjak, like White, had never been to the United States before arriving at Campbell.
Ravnjak, whose Croatian father and Australian mother were both powerlifters, received her first golf membership at age 8 and played in her first junior tournament as a young teenager. A late bloomer, she picked up her only offer from Campbell.
"Even though golf is an individual sport, it's awesome to be part of a team like this, especially with all the girls and Nadine," Ravnjak said. "The team environment within an individual sport is awesome because you all motivate each other."
Ravnjak and White played together and competed against each other as junior golfers, with Ravnjak often representing New South Wales and White representing Queensland. Living more than 600 miles apart, they became Facebook friends, and White received positive feedback as she considered joining Ravnjak at Campbell.
"Not knowing much of anything about it, going off Tahnia's words, it was scary, but it's bettered me as a person," White said. "I've grown a lot from it and am so much more independent being over here. It's definitely the best thing I've done."
TEAM APPROACH
Athletics and academics are more separate in Australia, and White wasn't able to spend as much time on golf during her brief time in a university setting there.
Golf star Karrie Webb, a distant relative, told White that her best option would be attending college and playing in the United States. She made her debut last March and earned a spot on this year's Big South all-conference team along with Ravnjak, Latorre and Brooks.
From the national field of 72 teams, Brooks guesses that the Camels were 37th or 38th among the 41 selected for an at-large regional berth. Two Australians with connections to the program's past are a big reason why Campbell has moved forward into the postseason.
"I think this team is different than other teams," White said. "I've heard stories of friends coming over, and the team environment and spirit are definitely different. We're so much like a family."
