Turlock High senior Isabella Dowd recently signed a letter-of-intent to play golf at William Jessup University in Rocklin.

Dowd was part of a core group of athletes — along with Sydney Streeter, Savannah Van Gaalen, Kate Harrington and Reece Benjamin — who led the Bulldogs to a Sac-Joaquin Section Division 2 championship in 2022, and came within strokes of titles in 2021 and 2023.

“I decided on William Jessup because I have family close by and I went to the campus to visit and I kinda fell in love with it,” said Dowd, who was shooting in the mid-70s prior to injuring her rotator cuff. “It’s a Christian school and I like a lot of the things it stands for.”

Dowd’s grandparents live in nearby Folsom.

“It just happened to be a great fit for me,” said Dowd, who plans to study business marketing.

Dowd said she really came to appreciate golf while in high school and decided she wanted to continue playing in college.’

“That was a big part of my decision as to where I wanted to go,” said Dowd. “William Jessup is moving up to Division II and I’m looking forward to challenging myself and getting better.”

Dowd said she’s not intimidated by the prospect of competing at the NCAA level.

“Honestly, not really,” she said. “I’m more excited by the opportunity. I just want to work on my game and get better.”

Dowd’s also looking forward to the increased travel required in the collegiate ranks.

“I love to travel and see different places,” said Dowd, who is excited by the prospect of the Warriors’ annual trip to Hawaii. “I’m looking forward to being with a close group of people and going all over.”