By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee Tech women's golf team released its 2017 fall slate, featuring three return trips from a season ago and two new tournaments on the docket.
The Golden Eagles lead off the new year with a return trip to the Caledonia Golf & Fish Club for the GolfWeek Program Challenge from Sunday, Sept. 10 to Tuesday, Sept. 12 in Myrtle Beach, S.C.
"For the first tournament of the year, we are going back to the GolfWeek Program Challenge," head coach Polk Brown said. "The women get to play at an incredible golf course, rated in the top 100 in the country, at Caledonia. It's a lot more of a placement course than the one that the guys play on, so they will really need to be able to pick and choose their spots to be successful. It's just a great way to start out the semester. The weather is usually pretty good down there and it's a beautiful place to kick off the fall."
Jacksonville State's Chris Bannister Fall Classic awaits Tech next, spanning Sunday, Sept. 24 to Tuesday, Sept. 26 at Silver Lake Golf Course in Gadsden, Ala.
"We played down at Silver Lakes last season," Brown explained. "There is a lot of history there. It's a similar course to what we play on for the OVC Championships, with it being a Robert Trent Jones course. It will be, in a way, a good preparation for things to come this spring. To be able to play with Jacksonville State, Murray State and Morehead State at the beginning of the semester will be a good check point to see where our players are in reference to other teams in the league. Allyson [Dunn] performed pretty well there last year and we've had some success there in the past. We'll look to continue that trend again this year."
The Golden Eagles will look for lightning to strike twice as they head back to Greensboro, N.C. for the Starmount Fall Classic from Oct. 2-3. Tech captured the tournament title at Starmount Forest Country Club last season and returns the individual medalist to the event as well.
"We are the defending champs at Greensboro and Hollee [Sadler] won the tournament individually last year, so it's nice to go back," Brown said. "That place is definitely one of the nicest course we go to all year. They put on a great event there and we are fortunate and excited to go back and defend the tournament that we won last year."
Following a two-week break from action, Tech hits the road back to North Carolina for Western Carolina's Bill Berg Invitational at The Ridges Golf Club in Hayesville. The event will span two days, from Oct. 16-17.
"We have been to Western Carolina in the past, but this is a different venue and format than what we've played before," Brown explained. "It used to 18 holes on three separate days and this year, the format is 36 and 18. It should be fun to go back to their tournament at a different place. We'll just have to wait and see how that works out."
Tech will wrap up the fall season with another new event, visiting Spartanburg, S.C. and the Country Club of Spartanburg for the Terrier Intercollegiate from Monday, Oct. 23 through Tuesday, Oct. 24.
"Wofford's tournament is a good way to end the semester and it's an event we've never been to before," Brown said. "That course is supposed to be really nice, so we are excited to go there for the first time. It's a slightly shorter event, featuring just 36 holes over two days.
"We aren't playing four weeks in-a-row like we did last fall," Brown explained. "It kind of gives the women a chance to regroup a few weeks at a time so we can figure out where our line up needs to be. It also provides some time to recharge the batteries and get back at it throughout the semester."
Photo by Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
