University of Georgia Athletics
Georgia Golfers Open 2011 Campaign
February 12, 2011 | Women's Golf
Feb. 12, 2011
ATHENS, Ga. --- The No. 10-ranked Georgia women's golf team will open the 2011 calendar portion of its schedule on Sunday at the Lady Puerto Rico Classic in Rio Grande, P.R. The tournament will be contested Sunday-Tuesday on the Greg Norman-desiged River Course at the Rio Mar Beach Resort.
"It's always fun to start a new season," head coach Kelley Hester said. "The fall was fine and good, but it's well behind us at this point. Pretty much all of our kids haven't played competitive golf since early November. We've gotten some of the rust off since school started back, but I know they are excited to get out of the cold and play somewhere where they can really work on their golf game in addition to competing."
The Bulldogs are one of seven teams ranked in the final fall version of the Golf World/NGCA Coaches' Poll in the tournament lineup. Top-ranked Alabama headlines the 18-team field, which also includes No. 6 Purdue, the No. 10 Bulldogs, No. 14 Auburn, No. 16 Oklahoma, No. 23 Kent State and No. 25 TCU. Rounding out the competition is Florida State, Indiana, Iowa State, Michigan, Northwestern, N.C. State, Oklahoma State, Oregon, Penn State, SMU and Texas Tech.
Junior Marta Silva Zamora, who finished the fall at No. 2 in the Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index and No. 3 in the Golfstat Cup rankings, leads the Georgia lineup. The Bulldogs' playing five also will include Emilie Burger, Tess Fordham, Amelia Hill and Abby Johnson. In addition, Milena Savich will compete as an individual.
A fifth-place team finish at the NCAA Fall Preview highlighted the Bulldogs' fall season. Individually, Silva Zamora notched three top-10 finishes and a fourth top-20 effort in four tournaments. She posted a stellar 70.17 stroke average, shooting a combined 19-under over 12 rounds.
"Marta had a great fall," Hester said. "She's come back and played really well under generally not very good conditions. I would expect her to play the same in the spring as she did in the fall. She's been our rock since she's been here, and she's one of the best players in the country. I think I've noticed a little stronger dedication in terms of her desire to improve her game, which is exciting."
Georgia has competed in the Lady Puerto Rico Classic during seven of the past eight seasons, finishing as runner-up team performances in 2003, 2004 and 2007.
Live scoring will be available at golfstat.com throughout the tournament.