University of Georgia Athletics
Georgia Women's Golf Heads To Fall Preview
September 21, 2006 | Women's Golf
The event allows the country's top teams to see the national championship venue for the first time, while providing players the opportunity to tee it up on the same course used during LPGA Qualifying School. Daytona Beach is the home of the LPGA Headquarters.
Georgia is among an elite 18-team field which includes all but one of the nation's top-15 teams in the Golfweek pre-season rankings. In addition to the Bulldogs, also on tap will be No. 1 Duke, No. 2 Arizona State, No. 4 Pepperdine, No. 5 UCLA, No. 6 Southern Cal, No. 7 Auburn, No. 8 Purdue, No. 9 Virginia, No. 10 Texas A&M, No. 11 Wake Forest, No. 13 Tennessee, No. 14 Florida and No. 15 Vanderbilt. Rounding out the field are No. 16 Oklahoma State, No. 18 UNLV, No. 24 Arkansas, Cal and UCF, the tournament host.
"This will probably be a better field than even at the NCAA Tournament," Georgia coach Todd McCorkle said. "Looking at it on paper, it's just incredible...maybe the strongest since I've been here at Georgia. That's going to give us an idea of where we stack up right off the bat. The lone exception in the top 15 that's not going to be there is (No. 12) Arizona. Other than that, everyone will be there. I think the NCAA champion will almost definitely come out of this field."
The Bulldogs will be in action for a second straight weekend. Georgia finished second at the Mason Rudolph Championship last Sunday, while Garrett Phillips and Taylor Leon finished second and third individually.
"It's a quick turnaround," McCorkle said. "It has been a busy couple of days with the girls getting back in the swing of things with classes. I'm really excited. We feel like we have a little momentum and a little confidence after the first tournament."
Four-fifths of the Bulldogs' lineup will remain the same as Phillips, Leon, Mallory Hetzel and Carolina Andrade will be back in action. Senior Whitney Wade will occupy the final spot in the playing five.
"The play of our newcomers last weekend was extremely encouraging," McCorkle continued "We knew what Taylor and Mallory could do, but to see Garrett play so well in her first tournament at Georgia and to see Carolina, a freshman, play so well was real exciting. Whitney is eager to get back in the lineup after not qualifying last week. It should add some firepower to our lineup."
Live scoring from the tournament will be available at www.golfstat.com.
