WGOLF CENTRAL: Mercedes-Benz Collegiate Championship

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Tennessee women's golf will host the 21st annual Mercedes-Benz Collegiate Championship from Monday, Sept. 18 through Tuesday, Sept. 19 at Cherokee Country Club (par 71, 5,897 / 5,840 yards) in Knoxville, Tennessee.

The field includes 15 teams, seven of which finished the 2016-17 season in Golfstat's top 50 rankings. Tennessee will host BYU, Coastal Carolina, Eastern Kentucky, ETSU, Illinois, Iowa, Kent State, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, NC State, SMU, UTSA and Wake Forest.

Tournament Format

Since 2015, the Mercedes-Benz Collegiate Championship has been played in a 36-18 format with the practice round beginning on Sunday and the three rounds being played over a Monday and Tuesday.
Round one will begin at 8:30 a.m.ET on Monday, Sept. 18 in a shotgun start. Upon the completion of the first round, play will continue into the second round.
On Tuesday, Sept. 19, the final round will begin at 9:00 a.m. ET in a shotgun start. The awards presentation will immediately follow the round.

Tournament History

The Mercedes-Benz Collegiate Championship is celebrating its 21st year, making it one of the longest standing collegiate tournaments in the country (1997-present).
The tournament will be held at Cherokee Country Club for the ninth time.
Kent State set a tournament record 54-hole score of 847 at the 2015 Mercedes-Benz Collegiate Championship.
Florida's 850 team total in 2016 was the third-best team score in tournament history while Illinois' first round 278 tied for the second lowest round since the tournament's inception in 1997.
Pimnipa Panthong (Kent State) set a new individual low score of 205 in 2016. She beat the previous record of 2017 that was held by Taylor Kim (Kent State), India Clyburn (North Carolina State), Erica Popson (Tennessee) and Natalie Gleadall (Ole Miss).
Kent State's Micheala Finn became the first player since 2011 to shoot 66, tying the individual low round score. Shauna Estes of Georgia set the record in 1998 while Marta Silva Zamora (Georgia) tied it in 2011.
Tennessee and Duke have won the tournament three times each.
Florida, Georgia and Ohio State have each taken home the title twice.
Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Kent State, LSU, Penn State, Purdue and South Carolina have each won the Mercedes-Benz Collegiate Championship once.

Tennessee's Lineup

Anna Newell
Blakesly Warren
Micheala Williams
Waverly Whiston
Mariah Smith

Individuals:

2017 Tennessee Volunteers

Top Returnees:
- Senior Blakesly Warren competed in 11 tournaments with a stroke avg. of 73.53 and seven top 25 finishes in 2016, including a third place finish at the 2017 Auburn vs. Tennessee Challenge. She was tabbed the SEC Player of the Week on March 22 after carding an eighth place finish at the 3M Augusta Invitational.
- Senior Anna Newell played in 11 tournaments carding a stroke average of 73.97 and a team-leading eight top 25 finishes during her junior campaign. She shot five sub-70 rounds including two during the SEC Championship en route to recording a 17th place finish on the Greystone Course.
- Sophomore Micheala Williams played in 11 tournaments with a stroke average of 74.03 in her first year with the Orange and White. She carded 10 rounds of par or better and placed in the top 25 four times. Most notably, she carded three birdies in her last four holes of the SEC Championship to place seventh.

Program Notes:
- In the team's first tournament of 2017-18, UT tied for fifth place (893), while Anna Newell and Micheala Williams placed in the top 16 individually. Overall, the Vols shot five rounds of par or better.
- Tennessee's two freshmen ranked among the top-50 players in the 2017 signing class: No. 19 Waverly Whiston and No. 50 Mariah Smith.
- Whiston was recently named a freshman to watch on Golfweek's Preseason Top 10 Freshmen List.
- Head Coach Judi Pavon is in her 18th season at the helm of the program. Under her tutelage, Tennessee has reached 10 NCAA Championships in the last 14 years and posted a winning record in all but one season. The Vols have also had success in the classroom as the team posted the highest GPA (3.79) in both women's golf and Tennessee Athletics history during the 2017 season.
- Since the program's first regional bid in 1993, the Vols have qualified for the NCAA postseason every year with 2017 marking Tennessee's 25th consecutive appearance.

Additional Information

Live stats will be available at Golfstat.com and will be posted to the tournament central page at the conclusion of each round.
The tournament is free and open to the public with parking available at Cherokee Country Club.

For the most up-to-date information about the Tennessee women's golf team, visit UTSports.com/w-golf, follow @Vol_WGolf on twitter and like the Vols at Facebook.com/UTWomensGolf.

Tournament Format

Tournament History

Tennessee's Lineup

2017 Tennessee Volunteers

Additional Information

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Allison Herring

Ariana Macioce

Anna Newell

Mariah Smith

Haley Wagner

Blakesly Warren

Waverly Whiston

Micheala Williams-Luck

University of Tennessee Athletics