WGOLF CENTRAL: Clemson Invitational

SUNSET, S.C. -- Tennessee women's golf heads to the Clemson Invitational after placing fourth at the SunTrust Gator Invitational two weeks ago. The third annual tournament hosted by Clemson takes place Friday, March 23 through Sunday, March 25 at The Reserve at Lake Keowee in Sunset, S.C.

The 15-team field features 11 teams ranked in the top 50 in the nation by Goftstat. On an individual basis, nine of the top 50, and 17 of the top 85 players in the country will be playing the challenging course according to the latest Golfweek/Sagarin rankings. Overall, the field includes five teams from the Big 10, three from the SEC, two from the ACC and one from the Big 12.

The Field

No. 39 Clemson
No. 31 Florida State
No. 7 Furman
Harvard
Indiana
No. 11 Michigan State
No. 49 Ohio State
No. 15 Oklahoma
No. 21 Purdue
No. 34 Tennessee
Tulane
No. 33 Texas A&M
UNC-Wilmington
No. 28 Vanderbilt
No. 30 Wisconsin

Tournament Format

The Clemson Invitational will be played in an 18-18-18 format with the practice round being played on Thursday, March 22.
The first two rounds (3/23 and 3/24) will begin at 8:00 a.m. ET on Hole #1 with tee times going until 11:52 a.m. ET.
The third and final round is scheduled to begin on Sunday, March 25 at 8:00 a.m. ET from Holes #1 and #10. The awards presentation will immediately follow the round.

Tournament History

The Lady Vols are making their third appearance in the tournament since its inception during the 2015-16 season. That year, UT finished 10th out of 14 teams with a score of 890.
In 2017, Tennessee carded 877 at the Clemson Invitational to place seventh of 17 teams.
The Jack Nicklaus-designed course opened in 2002. It has been the site of many major events, including one of the courses for the Web.com's BMW Charity Pro-Am.

Tennessee's Lineup

Individual: Haley Wagner

2017-18 Lady Vols

Blakesly Warren
- Warren enters the Clemson Invitational with five rounds of par or better. In the fall she carded three top-25 finishes, including a 12^th-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. To start the spring, Warren posted a 229 at the Northrop Grumman finishing the first tournament of the spring tied for 54^th place. She then finished tied for 62^nd with a score of 230 at the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate before leading Tennessee with a ninth-place finish at the SunTrust Gator Invitational.
Micheala Williams
- Williams continues 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. She shot a 231 to start off her spring campaign at the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge where she finished tied for 63^rd. Williams then finished tied for 69^th at the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate with a final tally of 232. In the SunTrust Gator Invitational, Williams carded 214 and shot 70 in the final round to tie for 13th place.
Waverly Whiston
- Whiston continues her debut season on Rocky Top in the Clemson Invitational after competing in all of Tennessee's tournaments so far this season. 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. Whiston 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 seven rounds of par or better since donning the orange and white. At the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge, Whiston tallied a 232 finishing tied for 67^th in the tournament. She then posted her third top-25 finish of the season with a 54-hole total of 223, featuring a round three score of an even par (71) at the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate. At the SunTrust Gator Invitational, Whiston tied for 24th place, carding 70 in the first two rounds for a score of 217.
Anna Newell
- This season, Newell boasts a 74.19 stroke average through seven tournaments and a top-three finish at the 2017 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, carding two rounds at or below par to finish in 14th place. To close out the fall at the Magnolia Invite, Newell shot a tournament-low round of 67 on the first day en route to tying for 17th place. Newell started out the spring leading the Lady Vols at the Northrop Grumman, finishing tied for 49^th after shooting a team-best 73 (+2) in round one. At the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate, Newell shot a 73 (+2) in the first round and finished tied for 51^st overall. She followed the performance up with a 219 at the SunTrust Gator Invitational to tie for 30th place.
Ariana Macioce
- A junior transfer from Georgia Southern, Macioce played in all four fall tournaments for the Lady Vols. She carded two rounds of par or better and averaged 75.92 in the fall. In her first event of the spring, Macioce shot a 235 at the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate and finished tied for 83^rd. She then recorded 219 in the SunTrust Gator Invitational to tie for 30th place.
Haley Wagner
- After redshirting during the 2016-17 season, Wagner made her debut for the Lady Vols in the Mercedes-Benz Collegiate Championship this past fall. She shot 70 in the first round and finished tied for 56th place. Wagner competed in her first tournament of the spring this past weekend at the Bobby Nichols Intercollegiate, tying for sixth place with a score of 224. The finish marked her first in the top 10 since donning the orange and white.

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 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.
The Lady Vols struggled in their opening spring tournament, where they faced one of the strongest fields of the season, including 17 other ranked opponents, finishing 16^that the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge.
The Vols finished tied for 16^th at the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate where they faced another strong field including nine teams ranked in Golfstat's top-20.
UT placed fourth at the SunTrust Gator Invitational with a 54-hole score of 857, marking the program's best finish of the spring.
Tennessee entered three individuals in the Bobby Nichols Intercollegiate. All three players, Allison Herring, Mariah Smith and Haley Wagner, placed in the top six with Smith tying for third place.
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.

Additional Information

Live stats will be available at Golfstat.com and results will be posted to the recap at the conclusion of each round.

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

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Players Mentioned

Allison Herring

Ariana Macioce

Anna Newell

Mariah Smith

Malia Stovall

Haley Wagner

Blakesly Warren

Waverly Whiston

Micheala Williams-Luck

University of Tennessee Athletics