EAST GREENSBORO – Former North Carolina A&T women's golfer served as the ambassador and face of the program for four years. She made appearances at events, served as a spokesperson during some of the Aggies most significant business partnership announcements, and handled interviews with grace.
To top it off, she developed into an excellent golfer throughout her career. But with her eligibility exhausted, she left behind plenty of others to follow in her footsteps.
Women's golf tees off its 2022-23 season on Monday, Sept. 19, at the Elon Invitational hosted by Elon University at the par-71, 6,065-yard Alamance Country Club golf course in Burlington, N.C. Carr will not play, but her lasting impact on the program will be there.
"Collegiate coaches understand there is no longevity in college athletics. Barring some unforeseen incident, you have them for four years, and that's it," said Richard Watkins, who enters his seventh season as the head coach of A&T's women's golf program. "We're always recruiting because we know that, so we are always prepared to lose an athlete.
What you hope for is what Christyn gave us. She raised the level of quality player interested in our program because she was the first one with her reputation and resume to commit to playing here. Now we get the phone calls we used that we didn't get before. Now we get the emails we didn't get before. And when we get those calls and emails, it's a different caliber player. She got quality golfers interested in our program."
Sophomore Velska Gelpi is one of those players inspired by Carr. Gelpi, a two-time state runner-up and a four-time state qualifier, had a promising freshman season. She played 18 rounds over seven stroke play tournaments and had an average score of 80.1. In both of Gelpi's top-10 finishes during the season, the UMES Collegiate Golf Championship, where she finished second, and the National Women's Collegiate Championship, where she finished 10th, the Aggies won the tournament.
"She is a great Aggie and a really good teammate," said Watkins. "She is just a really good teammate. She absolutely loves being an Aggie. She has so much pride in the school and a serious commitment to the team. That's the type of person she is. She is great in the classroom and has a desire to play. After graduation, she will be a great asset to the program because she loves the school that much."
Senior Jayla Rogers has also been in the spotlight for the Aggies. She received a $50,000 scholarship from the NBA and Mountain Dew two years ago. Rogers is a golfer who loves to play, talk, and teach golf. She played in seven tournaments with 18 rounds played and an average score of 81.56.
Seniors Kiaira Porter and Najae Butler also return for the Aggies. The Aggies also have some newcomers. Texas Southern transfer Kennedi Lee (Mansfield, Texas) joins the Aggies after leading Texas Southern to the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) championship last season.
"In my view, Kennedi was the best player on Texas Southern last season," said Watkins. "So there was no hesitation in my voice when she said she wanted to come to A&T and be an Aggie."
Freshman Tori Mouton (Saint Johns, Fla.) comes to A&T after being named ITG Next 2022 Northeast Florida female golfer of the year from The Bolles School. In 2020, Mouton finished second in the Class 1A state girls golf tournament as a junior. She led Bolles to district and regional titles, shooting a 5-under 139. Mouton shot 71 at the District 1-A regional championship, earning medalist honors and leading the Bulldogs to victory. She also shot a 6-over 150 (79-71) at the state tournament.
"Tori is coming to us with more rounds under par than any other golfer we've ever recruited," said Watkins. "She is the type of player we are starting to bring in here every year, and I think that's going to continue."
Victoria Stutts (Charlotte, N.C.) is also new to AggieLand. Stutts has experience playing overseas, mainly in France. She scored in the red during a round at the Grand Prix Palmola.
"We are excited to have Victoria with us because we had to out-recruit other institutions to get her here," said Watkins. "We had to compete against Miami, TCU, Appalachian State to get her to North Carolina A&T State University, so we think she will do some great things here."
Stutts and the other freshmen will get a chance to put their stamp on the program like Carr did when the season starts Monday in Burlington. The tournament will conclude Tuesday. A&T will compete against teams from all three conferences -- Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC), Big South Conference and Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) -- it has been members of since the program's inception seven years ago.
The other teams invited include host Elon and its 'B' team, UNC Greensboro, William & Mary, Radford, Appalachian State, Gardner-Webb, Presbyterian, Queens University of Charlotte and North Carolina Central.
"Unlike some of our other sports at A&T, we are not tied to a conference schedule, so the conference affiliation doesn't mean a whole lot to us until the conference tournament. But we have been playing against CAA teams since the program began, so going against those teams will not be much of a change for us.
We're ready to go out there and compete against anybody."
