KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. --- The Tusculum College women's golf team will open the spring portion of its 2009-10 schedule this weekend when they host the eighth annual Tusculum/Kiawah Island Intercollegiate. The first round will begin Saturday morning at Cougar Point Golf Club in Kiawah Island, S.C.
Entering its eighth year, the Tusculum/Kiawah Island
Intercollegiate has evolved into one of the premier NCAA Division
II women's golf tournaments in the nation. The 17-team tournament
field includes six colleges and universities that are currently
nationally ranked in the National Golf Coaches Association's
Division II Top 25.
The No. 3 team in the country, Florida Southern College, returns to
Kiawah for a fourth straight year. The Moccasins won last year's
Intercollegiate for a second consecutive season with a tournament
record team score of 586, paced by last year's opening 292,
establishing a new tournament record. Florida Southern has tallied
four NCAA national titles, with its most recent coming in 2007.
Fourth-ranked Rollins College is back, led by 2009 Kiawah Island medalist Joanna Coe. Coe won last year's event with a tournament record 138 (-6), including an opening round 68. Coe was also the 2008 NCAA II individual national champion as she led the Tars to a fifth national title that season. The Tars won the Kiawah Island Intercollegiate in 2007.
Barry University makes its second Kiawah Intercollegiate appearance this weekend as the Buccaneers bring a No. 6 national ranking with them.
South Atlantic Conference member Newberry College is ranked seventh in the nation, following a sensational fall where the Scarlet & Gray posted four top 4 finishes, including wins at the Lenoir-Rhyne/Myrtle Beach Intercollegiate and the Patsy Rendleman Invitational.
Lynn University will be making its third appearance in the Intercollegiate. The 10th-ranked Golden Knights finished third in last year's event. Lynn won a NCAA national title in 1997.
No. 19 Saint Leo University is making its Kiawah debut as the Lions won the Flagler Fall Slam Tournament in October.
Savannah College of Art and Design is also nationally ranked, listed seventh in the NAIA national poll.
Four South Atlantic Conference teams will be participating in this weekend's tournament including Tusculum, Newberry, Lincoln Memorial University and Wingate University.
Also competing in this year's tournament are Armstrong Atlantic State University, Belmont Abbey College, Columbus State University, Daytona State College, University of Montevallo, Mount Olive College and UNC Pembroke.
Tusculum, who is receiving votes in the latest NGCA Division II Ranking, posted four top-five performances in the fall, including a win at the Women's Independent Collegiate. Freshman Jillian Corum is leading the Pioneers with an 80.56 scoring average. Corum won the Women's Independent Collegiate in only her third tournament of her young career.
Sophomore Katie Doane is second on the team with her 80.89 stroke average, while two-time All-South Atlantic Conference First Team honoree Mary Ann Vizcarrondo is third at 81.00.
The second round of the tournament will be held Sunday beginning at 8 a.m. on the par 72, 5,800-yard layout.
Tusculum College, located in Greeneville, Tenn., is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church, USA and is a NCAA Division II member of the South Atlantic Conference which is comprised of nine colleges and universities in Tennessee, North Carolina and South Carolina.
- TC -
