Photo - WKU Athletics
A massive field awaits the WKU Lady Topper Golf team in its first outing of the spring semester. The Lady Toppers will be one of 42 programs competing this week in the Edwin Watts/Kiawah Island Spring Classic across two courses at the Kiawah Island Golf Resort in Kiawah Island, S.C. The tournament is tabbed as the largest collegiate golf tournament in the country.
Play begins at 7:45 a.m. CT Sunday with a shotgun start to kick off the first round. Monday’s second round and Tuesday’s final round also start at 7:45 a.m.
Two courses are used for the event, hosted by the College of Charleston. After 36 holes of play, the top 22 teams will play for the championship at Osprey Point (par 72, 5,964 yards) in the final round, while the remaining teams will play for a flight championship at Oak Point (par 72, 5,941 yards).
“It’s a historically really strong field,” WKU head coach Adam Gary said. “It’s going to be a tough challenge for us, but I think it’s a good gauge to know where we stand before we go into the rest of the semester.”
Seniors Katie Story and Georgina Blackman, sophomores Mary Joiner and Bailey Tyree and freshman Megan Clarke will represent the Lady Toppers in South Carolina this week.
WKU has had to battle through rough weather conditions for qualifying, but the team has taken advantage of the time it’s had and really focused on its play around the greens.
“We’ve gotten those rounds in, and we’ve been practicing a lot on short game, which is good for the spring semester when the weather might not be as good,” Story said. “You might be missing some greens, so we’ve been working to make sure we can get up and down. We feel pretty good going into the first tournament.”
The Lady Toppers registered two second-place finishes as a team in the fall. They also recorded 15 top-25 individual performances, eight top-10s and three top-fives.
This will be the final go-around for three seniors – Blackman, Story and Elizabeth Cason – who hope to make the most of these final opportunities.
“It’s quite bittersweet,” Blackman said. “I definitely think it’s motivating me to do well. I really want to finish on a high note. I just want to enjoy this semester and have us do as well as we can as a team.”
(Courtesy WKU Athletics)
