, S.C. –

The University of Kentucky women’s golf team will square off against its toughest competition of the season as the Wildcats travel to Blythewood, S.C., for the Southeastern Conference Championship on April 17-19.

“This will be our strongest challenge of the year as we face nine teams in the SEC that are ranked ahead of us by Golfstat,” head coach Myra Blackwelder said. “The team is looking forward to competing with the strong field.”

Senior Mallory Blackwelder and junior Kristin Vincent will take the field at the SEC Tournament for the second time as Wildcats. Blackwelder led Kentucky in the final round of the 2008 championship carding a one-over-par 73 – good for a 27th-place tie.

Freshman Ashlee Rose will join Blackwelder as the only Wildcats to compete in all nine tournaments of the 2009-09 season.

Junior Sara Hurwitch and freshman Alyssa Randolph will also take the field as they both have made major contributions to the spring season.

“The weather forecast is for warm and sunny days through Saturday of our competition, with rain expected the final round,” Myra Blackwelder said. “I am looking forward to watching our team compete in favorable weather conditions, as every round we have played this spring has been in difficult weather. Despite tough conditions, our team has shown strong improvement this spring.”

The three-day, 54-hole tournament will take place at the Cobblestone Park Golf Club (Par 71, 6,165 yards) with teams playing 18 holes each day. Kentucky will tee off at 8:30 a.m. ET Friday. Live scoring is available on www.golfstat.com.

Southeastern Conference Teams:
No. 6 Alabama
No. 7 Auburn
No. 8 LSU
No. 14 Georgia
No. 17 Arkansas
No. 18 Vanderbilt
No. 28 Florida
No. 29 Tennessee
No. 38 Ole Miss
No. 40 South Carolina
No. 41 Kentucky  
No. 89 Mississippi State