University of Tennessee Athletics
No. 9/13 Golf Opens Season at Cougar Classic
September 08, 2012 | Women's Golf
Led by All-American senior Erica Popson, the No. 9/13 Tennessee Lady Vol golf team opens the season against an elite field Sunday through Tuesday at the 10th Annual Cougar Classic hosted by the College of Charleston. The 54-hole event will be played at Yeamans Hall Club.
This year's competition features 10 of the top 15 teams from last year's NCAA Championship, including each of the top five finishers. Among the field are 13 teams ranked in Golfweek's preseason poll, where the Big Orange was tabbed ninth.
The teams will play a practice round Saturday and then take to the par-72 6,219 yard layout beginning Sunday morning. Tee times run 7:50 a.m. through 9:10 a.m. and 11:50 a.m. through 1:20 p.m.
The tournament will continue the same format on Monday and will set up a final round on Tuesday with an 18-hole shotgun start at 9:00 a.m.
"This year, it's a very strong field," head coach Judi Pavon said. "It's important at the beginning of the year to see what you need to work on and where you stack up. We're hoping that we'll play well but also get a good measure of where we stand against some of the top teams."
Along with Popson, the lineup this week features senior Sara Monberg, junior Chessey Thomas and sophomore AJ Newell, as well as freshman Ashlee Pickerell who will make her collegiate debut.
"The golf course is a great golf course, and it's a course that you have a lot of good opportunities to score well," Popson said. "Everybody has been playing well the last few rounds. I'm excited to see how the team does. I think we can really do well and put up a good finish this week.
The complete tournament field includes: No. 1 Alabama, No. 6 Auburn, College of Charleston, Charleston Southern, No. 3 Duke, No. 14 Florida, Furman, No. 16 Georgia, No. 23 LSU, Maryland, Miami, Mississippi, No. 10 North Carolina, No. 30 N.C. State, Penn State, No. 22 South Carolina, No. 9 Tennessee, UCF, UNC-Greenville, Wake Forest, No. 4 USC, No. 8 Vanderbilt, No. 11 Virginia and Wisconsin.
Live scoring will be available at golfstat.com. For updates, follow @LadyVol_Golf on Twitter.
