University of Georgia Athletics
Georgia To Begin 2019-20 Campaign On Monday
September 08, 2019 | Women's Golf
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ATHENS, Ga. —- The Georgia women's golf team will christen its 2019-20 season on Monday when the Bulldogs open play at the Minnesota Invitational. The tournament will be contested on the par-72, 6297-yard layout at Prestwick Golf Club in Woodbury, Minn., outside Minneapolis, with 36 holes of stroke play on Monday and 18 on Tuesday.
In preseason national rankings, Georgia was tabbed No. 19 by Golfweek, No. 20 by the Golf Channel and No. 21 in the Women's Golf Coaches Association poll.
"It's always fun to start the season," head coach Josh Brewer said. "You think you know what you have and who you're going to be, but until you tee it up and start competing you're really not sure. To me, it's exciting. There's a lot of energy. We have a great young nucleus plus a couple of good leaders on the back end. I think there's a lot positives, and I think we'll continue to get better as we go through the year."
The Bulldogs' nine-golfer roster features four returnees and five newcomers. Georgia's playing five for the opener will feature freshman Caterina Don occupying the No. 1 spot in the lineup followed by freshman Céleste Dao, sophomore Jenny Bae, sophomore Jo Hua Hung and senior Kelsey Kurnett.
"They've played real well in qualifying," Brewer said. "This will be our fourth straight weekend of competing. We're just going to tee it up again and go. You think you know as a coach, but I'll know a heckuva lot more on Tuesday around lunch time than I do now. Talent wise, as long as we take care of ourselves, we should be in good shape."
Rounding out the field in Minnesota are East Carolina, Kansas, Kentucky, Long Beach State, Louisville, Miami, Minnesota, Missouri, Notre Dame, San Francisco, San Jose State, UT-San Antonio and Virginia Tech.
"It's a good field with a lot of strong players within those teams," Brewer said. "It's a solid challenge for us to begin the season and will provide an indicator of where we are early in the year."
Don, a freshman from Pinerolo, Italy, who is currently ranked No. 28 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings, is excited about making her collegiate debut.
"College golf is pretty different from the golf I'm used to playing in Italy," Don said. "It's good to wear some different colors. To rep the Red and Black is really exciting. I'm really happy I'm getting to play in the first tournament in Minnesota. I think we're a great team, and we can achieve a lot this season. We just need to focus and work hard.
"We play a lot of team golf (in Italy), but really we're just traveling as a team," Don continued. "We just play two tournaments a year as a team where my score counts along with other people. Here, every tournament your score counts for other people as well. That motivates me to do even better because I'm not just playing for myself, I'm playing for the entire team and the school. That's even better."
Bae earned SEC All-Freshman accolades last spring after joining the Bulldogs as a mid-year enrollee in January.
"I feel a lot more comfortable, obviously compared to last January because now that I've gotten more used to things and I have a general idea of what it's like in college," Bae said. "I'm a lot more comfortable of course and a lot more relaxed. I still feel pressure, but that's an every day thing so I'm fine with it now. It was a big jump from a small team in high school to where you're competing nationally. I personally, enjoyed the jump and I hope to continue improving."
The Bulldogs will be paired with Miami and Louisville for the first two rounds on Monday, teeing off from No. 1 beginning at 8:40 a.m. ET. Live scoring will be available throughout both days of play at www.golfstat.com.
ATHENS, Ga. —- The Georgia women's golf team will christen its 2019-20 season on Monday when the Bulldogs open play at the Minnesota Invitational. The tournament will be contested on the par-72, 6297-yard layout at Prestwick Golf Club in Woodbury, Minn., outside Minneapolis, with 36 holes of stroke play on Monday and 18 on Tuesday.
In preseason national rankings, Georgia was tabbed No. 19 by Golfweek, No. 20 by the Golf Channel and No. 21 in the Women's Golf Coaches Association poll.
"It's always fun to start the season," head coach Josh Brewer said. "You think you know what you have and who you're going to be, but until you tee it up and start competing you're really not sure. To me, it's exciting. There's a lot of energy. We have a great young nucleus plus a couple of good leaders on the back end. I think there's a lot positives, and I think we'll continue to get better as we go through the year."
The Bulldogs' nine-golfer roster features four returnees and five newcomers. Georgia's playing five for the opener will feature freshman Caterina Don occupying the No. 1 spot in the lineup followed by freshman Céleste Dao, sophomore Jenny Bae, sophomore Jo Hua Hung and senior Kelsey Kurnett.
"They've played real well in qualifying," Brewer said. "This will be our fourth straight weekend of competing. We're just going to tee it up again and go. You think you know as a coach, but I'll know a heckuva lot more on Tuesday around lunch time than I do now. Talent wise, as long as we take care of ourselves, we should be in good shape."
Rounding out the field in Minnesota are East Carolina, Kansas, Kentucky, Long Beach State, Louisville, Miami, Minnesota, Missouri, Notre Dame, San Francisco, San Jose State, UT-San Antonio and Virginia Tech.
"It's a good field with a lot of strong players within those teams," Brewer said. "It's a solid challenge for us to begin the season and will provide an indicator of where we are early in the year."
Don, a freshman from Pinerolo, Italy, who is currently ranked No. 28 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings, is excited about making her collegiate debut.
"College golf is pretty different from the golf I'm used to playing in Italy," Don said. "It's good to wear some different colors. To rep the Red and Black is really exciting. I'm really happy I'm getting to play in the first tournament in Minnesota. I think we're a great team, and we can achieve a lot this season. We just need to focus and work hard.
"We play a lot of team golf (in Italy), but really we're just traveling as a team," Don continued. "We just play two tournaments a year as a team where my score counts along with other people. Here, every tournament your score counts for other people as well. That motivates me to do even better because I'm not just playing for myself, I'm playing for the entire team and the school. That's even better."
Bae earned SEC All-Freshman accolades last spring after joining the Bulldogs as a mid-year enrollee in January.
"I feel a lot more comfortable, obviously compared to last January because now that I've gotten more used to things and I have a general idea of what it's like in college," Bae said. "I'm a lot more comfortable of course and a lot more relaxed. I still feel pressure, but that's an every day thing so I'm fine with it now. It was a big jump from a small team in high school to where you're competing nationally. I personally, enjoyed the jump and I hope to continue improving."
The Bulldogs will be paired with Miami and Louisville for the first two rounds on Monday, teeing off from No. 1 beginning at 8:40 a.m. ET. Live scoring will be available throughout both days of play at www.golfstat.com.
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