Stephanie Meadow


commits to Alabama


University in 2010

NEWS RELEASE ISSUE BY HANK HANEY INTERNATIONAL JUNIOR GOLF ACADEMY
Stephanie Meadow of Northern Ireland, a junior (third year) student at Hank Haney International Junior Golf Academy, Hilton Head Island, South Carolina has verbally committed to attend the University of Alabama in the fall of 2010.
She was heavily recruited by top-ranked colleges around the country.
Stephanie won the Irish girls championship in 2006 and reached the final again in 2007 but was beaten.
Hank Haney, Tiger Woods' coach, says that Stephanie is “a role model at the Academy, has a strong work ethic, is very poised and at ease in any situation and will be a great addition to the Crimson Tide (University of Alabama) team.”
The Meadow family made one of the biggest decisions in their lives after a very successful 2006 season during which Stephanie captured the Irish girls championship and the Nick Faldo European girls' series. They moved temporarily to the States to allow Stephanie to train at the Hank Haney International Junior Golf Academy on Hilton Head Island.
She is currently ranked in the top 15 juniors in the world in the two junior golf rating systems for the class of 2010. Meadow is ranked 12th in both the Golfweek rankings and those of Junior Golf Scoreboard junior rankings.
Since arriving in America, Stephanie has continued to build on her impressive resume. She has notched seven wins on the International Junior Golf Tour (IJGT), is the 2008 Golfweek Junior Invitational Champion, finished second at the 2008 Optimist Tournament of Champions and more recently was third at the Verizon Junior Heritage and fourth at the Kathy Whitworth Junior Invitational.
Meadow has had to deal with adversity both on and off the course, including her father suffering heart failure while she was competing in the Nick Faldo Junior Series World Finals in China.
“Choosing a university was a very difficult decision”, says Stephanie. “Many coaches from colleges around the country wanted to recruit me and with the help of my parents, I narrowed the list to four or five colleges that I seriously considered.”
“Alabama is a fantastic place. As soon as I arrived I knew it was very special. I was immediately impressed by the style and class of the campus. The girls on the team are great. They are motivated; they work hard and most importantly have fun doing it. Coach Mic Potter has a lot to do with this. He is an outstanding coach and has a huge amount of experience. I know that he can help me bring my game to the next level. I am 100% sure that Alabama will help me reach all my goals both on and off the golf course.”
Meadow’s parents, Robert and Louise had nothing but praise for the University of Alabama. “It’s a great combination of academics and athletics and we are really excited for Steph. She wants to obtain a first class education, majoring in Business/Finance and go on to win on the LPGA Tour.
"While we visited several great schools and met with very talented coaches, Alabama excelled in so many areas and Coach Potter will no doubt develop Stephanie’s talent”.
Meadow attends Heritage Academy, the academic partner of Hank Haney IJGA, and her GPA is 4.60.
Stephanie hails from Jordanstown, Northern Ireland. She had her 17th birthday in January 20.

ROSIE DAVIES SIGNS FOR LEHIGH UNIVERSITY

Today is National Letter of Intent day for college signings in the United States.
Two Hank Haney International Junior Golf Academy post-graduate students from England officially signed today----Rosie Davies of London, who accepted a scholarship to attend Lehigh University, which is based at Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and James Currie of Worcester who signed a letter of intent to attend California University of Pennsylvania.