COOKEVILLE, Tenn. -- Tennessee Tech women's golf coach Brandy
Stout will take a lineup that includes two seniors, a junior and
two freshmen to the 2010 Ohio Valley Conference championship,
beginning Thursday at the GreyStone Golf Club in Dickson, Tenn.
Eight women's teams will be on the 6,049-yard, par 72 course vying
for supremacy over the three-day tournament. The winner will be
crowned following Saturday's final round, earning the league's
automatic invitationa to the NCAA Tournament.
As a team, Tech is tied for sixth in the league in scoring average
at 318.8 per round. Jacksonville State has the low team average of
310.5 per 18 holes, with Morehead State right behind at 311.2 and
Murray State third at 313.2
Diana Carson, a senior from LaFollette, Tenn., leads the Golden
Eagles into the tournament with a team-best 77.8 scoring average
this season, ranking her seventh in the conference.
Megan Bradford, a senior from Jackson, Tenn., is right behind with
a 78.8 stroke average to place her 11th in the OVC. Last year
Bradford earned all-OVC laurels and narrowly missed capturing
medalist honors in the tournament before finishing second. Bradford
was named the OVC Player of the Week once this season.
Carson is playing in her fourth OVC tournament and Bradford for
the third straight year.
A third Golden Eagle in this year's lineup also played in the OVC
tournament a year ago. Carley Rhyne, a junior from Powell, Tenn.,
makes her second appearance at the league championship event. She
is averaging 81.9 strokes this season, placing her fourth on the
team.
In addition to those three veterans, the Golden Eagle lineup will
also have a pair of freshmen playing in their first conference
championship. Amanda Randolph, a Cookeville native, is third on the
team this year with an 81.5 average to rank 29th in the OVC.
Katherine Bell, who hails from Jackson, Tenn., is fifth on the
squad at 82.8.
Opened in 1998, GreyStone Golf Club is a public course that has
hosted many high profile events including the 2000 and 2002 PGA
Tour first-round qualifying and men's and women's Tennessee State
Open from 1999 to 2003.
Murray State is the defending women's team champion, while Carrie
Riordan of Eastern Illinois was the individual medalist, edging
Bradford by three shots with a 230 total.
Each days results will be posted on TTUsports.com. In addition,
the conference will announce the 2010 all-OVC teams at the
Tournament Welcome Dinner Thursday, and that information will also
be posted Thursday evening on TTUsports.com.
Pictured above -
Top row, from left: Katherine Bell, Diana Carson and
Megan Bradford.
Bottom row, from left: Carley Rhyne and Amanda
Randolph.
