Marshall Thundering Herd women’s golf senior Shelby Brauckmuller has decided to use the extra year of eligibility granted to all NCAA spring student-athletes due to COVID-19 to graduate transfer to the University of South Florida.

Brauckmuller is among many student-athletes throughout the country who were given an extra year of eligibility by the NCAA, but due to roster sizes and scholarships available were unable to stay at their respective institutions.

The Auburndale, Florida native will now have the opportunity to have an at home feel as USF is just less than an hour away from her hometown.

“Being closer to home was one reason (I chose USF), and I felt that (it) is going to give me the best chance to be a professional golfer once I finish my eligibility,” Brauckmuller said. “I believe that they will be able to propel me into this new stage of life coming up.”

Her time at Marshall had been nothing short of a success as after a great freshman campaign in 2016-17, she was named the 2017 Conference USA Freshman of the Year. After her sophomore campaign, she was named to the 2018 All-Conference USA Third Team. During her junior campaign, she ranked inside Golf Stats top 250 individuals for eight weeks and was named to the 2019 All-Conference USA Second Team.

Brauckmuller said her favorite accomplishment at Marshall was her first tournament win in college in the William & Mary Invitational at Kingsmill in September of 2018.

“I had quite a few accomplishments over my years at Marshall. I think the one that I was most proud of was my first Collegiate tournament win at Kingsmill,” she said. “I was very comfortable heading into that tournament and had no expectations for it. It’s a difficult course played by many LPGA players and to claim medalist honors was a turning point for my career. It remains my lowest tournament score.”

Brauckmuller has made long lasting memories off the course at Marshall and a lot of them are with her teammates.

“Our van rides were always something that I will cherish because that is where you really get to experience being a team and enjoying each other. Little did I know that my time would be cut short,” she said.

Brauckmuller said that she can’t forget how thankful she is to the Marshall and Huntington communities for making her feel at home.

“There are so many things to list that I will miss about Huntington and Marshall,” she said. “My friends that I have made over the years, which were so important to me. I will miss the atmosphere around here and the pride that we all share for this school. I always had help around here, I never felt like I was alone because everyone was so kind and willing to help in any way that they could.”

Brauckmuller said she is looking forward to her writing her final chapter at USF and is thankful for her communication with them during this pandemic.

“The program at USF is fantastic and has an amazing coaching staff,” she said. “They have been awesome through all this and I feel like this upcoming year is the one that we bring home a championship to the Tampa bay area.”

She had one final message to Herd Nation before she moves onto her next chapter.

“I want to thank everyone for their support over the years and through this whole process,” Brauckmuller said. “It has been such a blessing to play for the Herd and I will miss it so dearly. I want to thank the city of Huntington for supporting me and giving me the biggest and most amazing family that I could ask for. Huntington was truly my home away from home.”

Spencer DuPuis can be contacted at [email protected].