JACKSON - A season ago, the Majors could not place at any tournament. 

That didn't stop second year Head Coach Eddie Brescher and now sophomore Lauren Barattini from putting together an outstanding season together. A year that saw Barattini improve each tournament and has turned her into the captain and leader of the young team.

Brescher bragged on his upperclassman, "Between (Lauren's) first event and her last, she dropped a good eight or nine stroke off her average," 

"I give all the thanks to Coach (Brescher) cause I don't think I'd be where I am today without all the work we put into it," said the sophomore out of Covington.

Now, with four new freshmen joining the Women's Golf Team this season, the Majors will not only be able to compete as a team, but begin to build the foundation of the team.

"Our goal for last year was to make sure we brought enough girls in to have a full roster, we've done that," says Brescher. "Now, we want to work on the development of these girls and build their potential and drop their stroke averages as the year goes on."

Barattini returns after competing in seven events a year ago and comes off a career-low round of 87 at the Rome News Tribune. She finished a season high 18th place finish at the Redhawk Classic in the Fall.

But she is not done there. Barattini expects to improve this season while showing the ropes to the incoming freshman.

"I need to lower my stroke average and consistently get in the 80s," says Barattini. "I need to also be a leader to team, not only be there for myself and help myself get through this, but also be a guidence for the rest of the team."

The Majors welcome in the No. 1 Golfer in the state of Mississippi last year in Lauren Durbin of Biloxi as she was a big steal for the Majors Golf Program. Durbin has competed in multiple tournaments already and is expected to make a huge impact on the team early on. She was last season's Mississippi High School Athletic Association's Individual State Champion, shooting a 72 and a 74 on her way to victory.

"We are very fortunate to land Lauren and have her here," says Brescher. "She has a ton of tournament experience and we will look for some great events and tournaments from her."

Joining the team will be Emma Lee Mikhalek of Ojai, Cal. Mikhalek was a very accomplished student-athlete both on and off the golf course and will also come into the season with high expectations early on.

Ashley Cabeceiras of Mandeville, La. is also on board for the season. Cabeceiras is another accomplished student-athlete in many facets of athletics and academics and won many awards throughout her high school career for her accomplishments.

A duel sport athlete, Whitney Smith of Isle of Palm, S.C. will be participating in both golf and women's lacrosse this season. She is expected to benefit both clubs, which is an attest to her athletic ability. 

"Emma, Whitney, and Ashley are going to have a couple weeks to prepare and all of a sudden college golf is starting," says Brescher. "Myself and Lauren's job as head coach and captain is to help them cope with the big changes. We are going to really focus on building and preparing them for the first event, after that, I think they will be able to get the hang of things."

Barattini adds, "College golf can be frustrating when you have high expectations for yourself, I have to show them the ropes and remind them that golf is supposed to be fun."

The Majors may not have a set stroke average that they are aiming for this season, but Coach Brescher know the improtantance of progressing this team for the future.

"We want to teach these girls everything we can so they can progress and get better a lot faster at Millsaps as opposed to if they went somewhere else," explains Brescher.

And the future looks bright.