Oct. 20, 2011

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Coming off its first-place finish at the Bettie Lou Evans Fall Invitational, the University of Kentucky women’s golf team will play in the Mercedes-Benz SEC/Pac-12 Challenge, on Oct. 21-23. Hosted by the University of Tennessee, the challenge will be played at Holston Hills, located just east of Knoxville, Tenn.

The tournament plays host to 20 of the top 50 nationally ranked teams, including five of the top six teams, according to Golfstat. The field includes Alabama, Arizona, Arizona State, Arkansas, Auburn, California, UCLA, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi, Mississippi State, Oregon, Oregon State, South Carolina, Southern California, Stanford, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Washington and Washington State.

“We are very excited to be back in Knoxville. This is the toughest field of our fall,” said UK head coach Golda Johansson Borst about returning to play in the Mercedes-Benz SEC/Pac-12 Challenge. “For us, this is huge because in order for us to be the best, we need to compete against the best, day in and day out. We are looking forward to an exciting, yet challenging weekend.”

The Cats look to continue their hot start after two top-three finishes to start the year. In its last event, Kentucky won the Bettie Lou Evans Fall Invitational, including junior Ashleigh Albrecht who won the individual crown. Through two events, Albrecht and senior Ashlee Rose each have two top-10 finishes.

Kentucky will tee off Friday at 11:10 a.m. in ten-minute intervals from the first tee. Junior Megan Moir will be the first Cat to tee off at 11:10, followed by junior Heather Lott, junior Betsie Johnson, Rose and Albrecht at 11:50 a.m. All times are Eastern.

To follow live scoring of the Mercedes-Benz SEC/Pac-12 Challenge, please go to golfstat.com. For more information on the University of Kentucky women’s golf team, please go to UKathletics.com.