Golden Eagles open play at BSC Ann Rhoads Invitational, Feb. 19-20

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COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – For Tennessee Tech women’s golf coach Polk Brown, success in 2012 begins with Day One.

The Golden Eagles open their season and Ohio Valley Conference title quest at the BSC Ann Rhoads Invitational on Feb. 19-20 at Oxmoor Valley in Birmingham, Ala., and a strong showing there would be just what the doctor ordered for Brown’s young team, the first-year head coach says.

“We want to put ourselves in position to win a tournament, and it would be great if it was this first event,” Brown said. “Once we do that and the girls get a chance to be in the mix to win a tournament, I think their excitement and confidence only grows from there.”

Though Tech’s overall goal is to win an OVC title, Brown is enthusiastic about the stops the Golden Eagles will make along the way this season, beginning with their stop at Oxmoor Valley, part of Alabama’s celebrated Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail.

From there, Tech will take part in perhaps its most high-profile tournament of the season on March 19-20 at Pinehurst Resort in Pinehurst, N.C., a site which has previously hosted two U.S. Open tournaments, a PGA Championship and a Ryder Cup. Pinehurst will again host the U.S. Open and the U.S. Women’s Open in 2014.

The Golden Eagles will compete in the 2012 Pinehurst Challenge at Pinehurst No. 6, an event hosted by College of Charleston.

Also highlighting the schedule is a trip to Hilton Head Island, S.C., and the Low Country Intercollegiate, hosted by Wofford, on March 25-26.

“The places we’re going this season are really exciting for the girls,” Brown said. “We’re going to Pinehurst, which is one of the great and historic venues for golf in the country, then we get to go to Hilton Head, not to mention opening the season at a Robert Trent Jones course.”

Later in the spring, Tech will play a pair of tournaments closer to home as they prepare for the OVC Championships. The Golden Eagles will take part in the Belmont Invitational at Old Hickory Country Club in Nashville on April 2-3, then head to the Samford Intercollegiate at Limestone Springs in Birmingham, Ala., on April 9-10.

The OVC Championships will be held April 22-24 at Greystone Country Club in Dickson, Tenn.

Tech fields a six-woman roster for the 2012 season, a group that was led by junior Katherine Bell, freshman Madalyn Everts and sophomore Brandy VanEtten in the fall season. Bell finished with a team-best 78.0 stroke average and finished 10^th out of 65 players at the Drake Creek Invitational in September.

Everts and VanEtten finished with averages of 78.3 and 78.6, respectively.

“We’re excited about where we stand,” Brown said. “We’ve made a lot of progress the first couple of weeks of the semester, and the girls are working especially hard on their short games. I’m excited to see how we fare the first time out.”