Sept. 24, 2008
NASHVILLE – The Vanderbilt women’s golf team starts its 2008-09 season with the toughest field it will see this regular season, hosting the Mason Rudolph Women’s Championship at the Vanderbilt Legends Club in Franklin, Tenn. The host Commodores will welcome nine out of the top 10 teams in women’s collegiate golf Sept. 26-28 in Franklin.
Also competing at the Legends Club this weekend is the men’s portion of the Mason Rudolph. They will compete on the North Course Friday through Sunday.
Included in this year’s field are the No. 1 ranked, defending NCAA champion USC, No. 2-ranked UCLA, No. 3-ranked Duke, No. 4 Arizona State, No. 5 Oklahoma State, No. 7 Purdue, No. 8 Florida, No. 9 Auburn, No. 10 Alabama, No. 12 Wake Forest, No. 13 Arizona, No. 15 Arkansas, No. 20 Stanford, No. 25 Tennessee, No. 28 Vanderbilt and No. 41 UCF. Chattanooga rounds out the 17-team field. All rankings are from the Golfworld/NGCA Preseason Coaches Poll.
“Once again the Mason Rudolph will host one of the strongest fields in women’s golf,” said Vanderbilt head coach Greg Allen. “Because of a great golf course and a great support staff, the best teams in the country want to come play in the Mason.”
The 54-hole tournament takes place this Friday through Sunday on the par-72, 6,217-yard Legends South Course, with 18 holes being played every day of the event. UCLA won last year’s tournament and set a new 54-hole scoring record with a 13-under par, 851 (281-283-287), 14 strokes better than runner-up Arizona State, who finished with an 865 (280-293-292).
2008 U.S. Women’s Amateur champion Amanda Blumenherst of Duke captured last year’s tournament and is a two-time medalist at the Mason Rudolph. Blumenherst shattered her own individual record by five strokes in 2007, shooting a 13-under par, 203 (66-68-69) to win the tournament by four strokes over Anna Nordqvist of Arizona State.
The host Commodores will send senior Jacqui Concolino, sophomore Megan Grehan, junior Brooke Goodwin and freshmen Marina Alex and Andrea Messer to the course this weekend as the team’s starting five. Senior walk-on Christine Brown will represent the team as an individual.
“The Mason will be our season opener, and I think we’re ready to play,” said Allen. “We’ve had some quality practices in the weeks leading up to this weekend, and I feel like this team is prepared to be successful. This team has a chance to do some great things this year. We have some real depth on this team and have seen some great scores in our qualifiers.”
Teams will tee off from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. on Friday and Saturday, and 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. on Sunday, with the Commodores set to tee off Friday morning at 8:45 a.m.