April 10, 2009

The University of Memphis women's golf team travels to Tulsa, Okla. this weekend for the Conference USA tournament. The event will be held at one of Tulsa's oldest venues, Tulsa Country Club. Nine teams will be competing in the event: Tulsa, ECU, SMU, UCF, Memphis, UTEP, Southern Miss, UAB, and Marshall.

With three newcomers to the team this year, Leslie Grabeman and Rachel Larson are the only players for Memphis that have prior experience in the conference tournament. Larson fired rounds of 79-71-87 to finish tied for 16th. Grabeman finished tied for 34th after carding rounds of 81-84-83.

"I think Rachel and Leslie will be able to provide a lot of leadership this week since they've been here before," said Lady Tiger head coach Beth Harrelson. "This is a new experience for Marissa, Caitlin, Kathleen, and myself. But, I have a lot of confidence in the way everyone is playing right now."

For Larson, this could be her last tournament in her storied career as a member of the Lady Tiger golf team. Over her career at Memphis, Larson has posted 14 top-20 finishes, including two this season. The low finish of her finish of her career came in the fall of 2006 when she finished tied for fifth at the Wildcat Fall Invitational. Carrying a scoring average of 78.9 for her career, Larson will be competing in her 37th event as a Lady Tiger.

"This will definitely be an emotional event for Rachel," said Coach Harrelson. "It could be her last event as a student-athlete at the University of Memphis. But, I still fully expect her to go out there, give it her all, and turn in a great performance. That's just the kind of person and golfer that she is."

Marissa Steen looks to cap off a stellar freshman season at the U of M. After arriving on campus in the fall, Steen has established herself as a force to be reckoned with. She leads the team in scoring average at 78.6 strokes per round and has posted the most top-20 finishes (3) on the team. Steen also looks to build off a strong performance last week at the Rebel Intercollegiate. In that event, Steen posted rounds of 76-75-77 to finish 12th.

"I couldn't be any prouder of the way Marissa has played this year," said Coach Harrelson. "She's just continued to work hard, and it has showed. I expect her to have a strong showing this week."

The Conference USA Women's Golf Championship tees off Sunday morning, April 12th, beginning at 8 a.m. (CT).