Nicholls State drops women’s golf program

The women’s golf team at Nicholls State will disband after this season, one of at least two Division I college teams in Louisiana that will disappear as a result of state budget cuts affecting public universities across Louisiana.

Nicholls State spokeswoman Renee Piper confirmed on Thursday that members of the women’s golf team had been told they would not have scholarships, or a team to play for, if they return to the university’s Thibodaux campus to continue their education next fall.

Only two days earlier, Southeastern Louisiana in Hammond announced it was suspending its 10-player men’s tennis squad.

There are seven members of the women’s golf team at Nicholls, though two are seniors, and Piper stressed that the university was trying to help the other five players transfer.

“I wouldn’t want the impression to be that we’re putting them out on the curb,” Piper said. “We’re working with the women’s golf team to find a place for them to play.”

The move reduces the number of sports at Nicholls to 14, the minimum for NCAA Division I status. Piper said head golf coach James Schilling will be retained and continue to coach the men’s team.

Nicholls also is not filling four vacant assistant coaching positions in other sports and eliminated a fifth assistant, who was with the softball team. The school also plans to reduce its travel budget and the number of games scheduled.

“This has been a very difficult and frustrating time for the Nicholls community,” Piper said. “To meet the budget challenge, cuts have been made to all areas of the university – athletics, academics and administration. The decision to cut services, programs and personnel has been extraordinarily difficult.”