Sept. 17, 2009
Round One Tee Times 
The University of Memphis women's golf team is set to open its season this week as they travel to Greenville, S.C. to compete in the Lady Paladin Invitational. The 17 team event returns to the Furman University course after a one year break for course renovations.
Memphis will be joined by Campbell (No. 58), East Carolina (No. 42), East Tennessee State (No. 62), Florida International (No. 56), Furman (No.46), James Madison (No. 96), Kennesaw State, Mercer, UNC Greensboro (No. 94), UNC Wilmington (No. 67), 2008 Division II National Champion Nova Southeastern, Penn State, Rutgers, Samford, Stetson (No. 86) and Wofford.
"This is a great field here this week," said Lady Tiger head coach Beth Harrelson. "I like starting out the season against such a good field because it really lets us know where we are as a team."
Last season, Memphis competed in 8 events, finishing in the top-10 in five. The Lady Tigers look to build upon that success this season.
"I look for us to improve dramatically this season, both as a team and for each player individually," said Coach Harrelson. "There's more competition this year, and I look for everyone to push each other to get better and work harder."
The 54-hole tournament begins with opening round play at 8:30 a.m. on Friday. Second round play tees off at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday with Sunday's final round scheduled for a shotgun start at 9 a.m.
Live tournament scoring will also be available via www.golfstat.com.
The Squad
The five golfers competing for the Lady Tigers this week are Leslie Grabeman, Alex Alang, Kathleen Glavin, Marissa Steen, and Sarah Mathews.
-Leslie Grabeman is the lone senior on this year's Lady Tiger golf squad. Since transferring from Minnesota in the spring of 2008, Grabeman has competed in every event for Memphis, posting two top-20 finishes and holding a scoring average of 82.6.
-Alex Alang is competing in her first event as a Lady Tiger. She was the 85th ranked junior girl in Sweden. Alang played tournaments on the Skandia Junior Tour, which is the Swedish National Junior Tour. She held a scoring average of 79.1 strokes per round, with a low round of 72. On the SJT, she finished in the top-10 five times, with a low finish of second.
-Kathleen Glavin, a sophomore from Dayton, Ohio, arrived on campus in the fall of 2008 and made an immediate impact. Competing in every event for the Lady Tigers in 2008-09, Glavin posted a low finish of T12 at the 2009 Lady Eagle Invitational.
-Marissa Steen was one of Memphis's most consistent performers last year. She posted three top-20 finishes, including a fourth place showing at the Lady Red Wolf Classic. Steen also led the team in scoring average at 79.1 strokes per round.
-Sarah Mathews is also competing in her first event as a Lady Tiger. She was a three-time qualifier for the Optimist International Junior Championship. Mathews was also a finalist for the Commercial Appeal's "Best of the Preps" four years in a row (2005-2008).
