Sept. 3, 2011

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - The University of Memphis women's golf team is set to open the fall portion of its 2011-12 season this weekend at the 16th annual Chris Banister Golf Classic.

The three-day tournament will take place at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Course at Hampton Cove, a 54-hole, par-72 club located in Huntsville, Ala.

The event will be played on the 6,070-yard Highlands Course, which is comprised of Bent grass greens and Bermuda fairways.

The tournament is hosted by Jacksonville State, last season's champion.

"This year, we feel as though we can really compete for the win," said head coach Beth Harrelson. "I really expect for us to go out and have a great showing, and come out victorious."

The U of M will travel all eight golfers on its roster to the tournament, including freshmen Natalie Turk (Franklin, Tenn.) and Ashleigh Whisenant (Attalla, Ala.).

"This tournament allows us to travel all eight girls, and that is great for team unity and team bonding," said Harrelson. "We are going to spend a lot of time with each other and that is very important at this time in the season."

Memphis will be joined by Tennessee Tech, Lamar University, Mercer and others in the 10-team event.

Play is slated to begin at 10:30 am on Sept. 4, and continue through Sept. 6.

The U of M returns all six members of its 2010-11 squad, a team which finished fourth in Conference USA.

Throughout their 2010-11 campaign, the Lady Tigers tallied three tournament victories, 20 individual top-10 finishes, three individual medalists and finished the season ranked 86 by Golf Stat and 89 by Golf Week.

In addition to their success on the course, the Lady Tigers also ranked higher than any other sport in Conference USA, in team GPA, notching a 3.723 for the 2010-11 academic year. In the process, four Lady Tiger golfers earned 2010-11 NGCA All-American Scholar honors (Julia Hodgson, Kathleen Glavin, Sarah Mathews and Marissa Steen), all of which are now repeat winners.

Memphis concluded its academic accolades by ranking seventh in the nation in collective team GPA among NCAA Division I, II and III women's golf programs, as announced by the National Golf Coaches Association (NGCA) in July.

The U of M ranked second in team GPA among universities in the South, trailing only 2010-11 NGCA All-Scholar Team GPA Award recipient, Lee University (Cleveland, Tenn.).