University of Tennessee Athletics
Sunday, February 11
Palos Verdes, Calif.
All Day
University of Tennessee
at
Northrop Grumman
WGOLF CENTRAL: Lady Vols Open Spring at Northrop Grumman
February 09, 2018 | Women's Golf
PALOS VERDES, Calif. -- Tennessee women's golf kicks off the spring as one of 18 ranked teams in the Northrop Grumman. The tournament runs Sunday, Feb. 11, through Tuesday, Feb. 13, at Palos Verdes Golf Club (par 71, 6,017 yards) in Palos Verdes, California.
Featuring one of the strongest fields of the season, No. 61 Ohio State is hosting four of the top-5 teams in in the country: No. 1 UCLA, No. 2 Duke, No. 3 Alabama and No. 5 Stanford. Eight other teams competing in the tournament are also ranked in Golfstat's Top 25.
The Field
Featuring one of the strongest fields of the season, No. 61 Ohio State is hosting four of the top-5 teams in in the country: No. 1 UCLA, No. 2 Duke, No. 3 Alabama and No. 5 Stanford. Eight other teams competing in the tournament are also ranked in Golfstat's Top 25.
The Field
- No. 3 Alabama
- No. 39 Arizona
- No. 6 Arizona State
- No. 46 Baylor
- No. 2 Duke
- No. 18 Florida
- No. 12 Northwestern
- No. 61 Ohio State
- No. 8 Oklahoma State
- No. 49 San Diego State
- No. 5 Stanford
- No. 28 Tennessee
- No. 10 Texas
- No. 1 UCLA
- No. 33 UNLV
- No. 11 USC
- No. 23 Wake Forest
- No. 25 Washington
- The Northrop Grumman will be played in an 18-18-18 format with the practice round being played on Saturday, Feb. 10.
- Round one will begin on Sunday, Feb. 11, at 12:00 p.m. ET. The second round will begin at 12:00 p.m. ET on Monday, Feb. 12.
- The third and final round is scheduled to begin at 11:30 a.m. ET on Tuesday, Feb. 13, in a shotgun start. The awards presentation will immediately follow the round.
- 2018 is the 23rd year of the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge
- Tennessee played in the Northrop Grumman in 2016-17, placing 14th with a score of 899.
- This unique collegiate tournament was founded by Cathy (Hanlon) Marino, a member of the PVGC Hall of Fame, Therese Hession, Ohio State University women's golf coach, and Sid Croft, longtime PVGC member. In 1995, while Marino was the head coach at SMU and Hession was in her third year at Ohio State, they developed the idea of having a ladies collegiate event in Southern California early in the year to kick off the Spring season.
- Palos Verdes Golf Club was designed by George Thomas and William Bell and was opened for play in 1924. The course features a demanding design, hilly lies, small greens, and beautiful ocean views.
- Blakesly Warren
- Warren enters the Northrop Grumman with a season average of 74.00 and four rounds of par or better. In the fall she carded three top-25 finishes, including a 12th-place finish at the Magnolia Invitational with a score of 219 (+3). Hailing from Chattanooga, Tennessee, Warren shot a career-low 68 in the final round of the Mercedes-Benz Collegiate Championship to finish the tournament tied for 14th place at one-under. She rounded out the fall tied for 29th place in the Ocean Course Invitational after posting par in the first round.
- Anna Newell
- This season, Newell boasts a 73.58 stroke average through four tournaments and a top-three finish at the Mercedes-Benz Collegiate Championship after turning in a perfect card with three birdies in the final round. She paced the Volunteers in the two-day Ocean Course Invitational with a two-over 221. The Florida native carded two rounds at or below par to finish in 14th place. At the Magnolia Invite, Newell shot a tournament-low round of 67 on the first day en route to tying for 17th place.
- Mariah Smith
- Smith continues her freshman season after playing in all four of Tennessee's fall tournaments. The Clarksville, Tennessee, native opened her collegiate career with a 51st place finish at the Ocean Course Invite before shooting 226 in the annual Mercedes-Benz Collegiate Championship. She capped the fall with back-to-back 41st place finishes at the Magnolia Invite and the Trinity Forest Invite.
- Micheala Williams
- Williams is looking to build off a fall campaign in which she posted a 74.25 average through four tournaments. She finished in the top 20 in three of those events and carded two rounds of par or better. The Athens, Alabama, native led the Orange and White in the first two rounds of the Ocean Course Invitational with an even-par 146 and tied for 16th place in the tournament to begin the 2017-18 season.
- Waverly Whiston
- Whiston continues her debut season on Rocky Top in the Northrop Grumman after competing in all four of Tennessee's fall tournaments. In the Ocean Course Invite, she tied for 37th place and carded her first round of par or better as a Volunteer. She then shot 220 in the Mercedes-Benz Collegiate Championship before carding a career-low 217 at the Magnolia Invite en route to an eighth-place finish. She posted a tournament-low and career-low score of 67 in the second round of the Trinity Forest Invitational to record her second top-10 finish of the fall. Overall, Whiston has shot four rounds of par or better since donning the orange and white.
- 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 in the Ocean Course Invitational (Sept. 4-5).
- The Lady Vols closed out the Mercedes-Benz Collegiate Championship (Sept. 18-19) with a final round of 280 (-4) to jump into third place. Newell also placed third in the tournament.
- Tennessee women's golf carded 293 in the final round of the Magnolia Invitational (Oct. 1-3) to place third in the tournament. The finish marked the Lady Vols' second top-three finish this season and the team's first back-to-back placement in the top three since the beginning of the 2015-16 season.
- The Vols closed out the fall with a third-place finish in the Trinity Forest Invitational where Whiston carded her second collegiate top-10 finish.
- Tennessee's early enrollee, Malia Stovall, was ranked as the No. 1 golfer in the state of Tennessee in the 2018 signing class.
- Whiston was named a freshman to watch on Golfweek's Preseason Top 10 Freshmen List in September.
- 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 2016-2017 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.
- Live stats will be available at Golfstat.com and results will be posted to the recap at the conclusion of each round.
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Golf
/ Women's Golf
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