LEXINGTON, Ky. ?The Myra Blackwelder era officially begins on Friday when her women?s golf team faces stiff competition at the Mason Rudolph Women?s Championship, hosted by Vanderbilt.
Kentucky is among a field which features the top nine teams in the country, according to Golfweek Magazine, and 15 of the top-27 teams will participate.
Set to appear are: #9 Arizona, #2 Arizona State, #5 Auburn, #1 Duke, #13 Florida, #14 Georgia, Kentucky, #27 LSU, Ohio State, #6 Oklahoma State, #7 Purdue, #24 South Carolina, #20 Stanford, #4 UCLA, #3 Southern California, #8 Vanderbilt, and #11 Wake Forest.
The tournament is played over three rounds in three days, with the first round teeing off Friday morning at the Vanderbilt Legends Club?s Ironhorse Course. Sunday, the winners will emerge in final round play.
Kentucky?s squad has played qualifying rounds in Lexington to determine the team for the first event of the season. Qualifying for their first starts of the season are: junior Mallory Blackwelder, senior Elizabeth Dotson, freshman Louise Ljungstedt and sophomores Erica Still and Kristin Vincent.
?We are going straight into the fire in our first tournament,? Blackwelder said. ?We are going to have to learn quickly. Our schedule is demanding, and we will face the top competition in the country. So we?re going right after it.?
Blackwelder is excited to start this season, believing the communication and trust in one another is something that will pay dividends on a team that believes they can be a top-25 program.
?I?m very positive going into this season and very pleased with where the girls are coming into the fall,? she said. ?Overall, our outlook is very good. We have a great chemistry on our team, with really good communication. They seem to trust the coaches and have a really good respect for each other as well.?
Blackwelder knows that the team?s progress may come in small steps, but that even the most minimal improvements should not go unnoticed. She believes that a good system is in place, and the right players are on the roster to achieve higher goals.
?We have a good group, working hard,? said Blackwelder. ?They?re hungry for improvement and instruction, which to a coach and a teacher is all you, can ask for, someone wanting to improve and get better.?
All the expectations are team-oriented. Blackwelder believes this team has the ability to keep overall team scores at 300 or lower. The players listed being ranked in the top-25 and among the top half of the SEC as their goals for the season. ?One of the goals was shooting under 300 (as a team), and we?ve already done that in qualifying rounds twice,? Blackwelder said in early September. ?If we can keep it around 300 or better every day, I can see us being right around the top-25. I think we may shock a lot of people this season if we can do that.?
THE GOLFERS
Leading the way this season for the Blue and White is senior co-captain Beth Felts whose confidence and consistency should help the team and younger players the most. Tabbed the 2007 Southeastern Conference Co-Scholar Athlete of the Year, Felts became the first player in school history to receive the honor, proving she is dedicated to achievements both on and off the course.
?Beth is making some changes that I think will really help her golf game,? Blackwelder said. ?We?re implementing a new grip change that I think is going to benefit her a lot. She is a mature young lady and someone that is a natural leader.?
Felts competed in all 11 tournaments for the Blue and White last year, leading the team in scoring five times while placing 37th in the SEC Tournament to pace the team for the second consecutive season.
Felts? lone senior classmate, Elizabeth Dotson, looks to return to good health and prove that she is fully recovered from 2006 spring knee surgery. She participated in the spring ?07 season, after missing the fall slate, and showed good promise in working her way back.
Dotson played in seven tournaments, earning a season-best finish of 34th at the Peggy Kirk Bell Invitational and a tie for 47th at the SEC Championships, including a season-low round of 77 in the second round. The Wildcats will look to her for more consistency coming into her final season at UK.
The solo junior on the team is Mallory Blackwelder, the other captain. She comes to Kentucky with a reputation as a player with consistency and a willingness to help both teach her teammates and learn from her coaches.
?She?s pretty consistent, and her scores are obviously reflecting that? Myra Blackwelder said. ?She?s worked on good rotation on her swing and is trying to play smarter.?
The younger Blackwelder won the 107th Women?s Western Golf Association National Amateur Championship with a 5 and 4 victory in the 36-hole final in the summer of 2007, and ranked third on the Gators with a 76.0 stroke average as a sophomore.
With the return of Erica Still, and another transfer in Kristin Vincent from N.C. State, the sophomore class will undoubtedly provide tremendous depth and a solid foundation for years to come. Both players are experienced in the college game and either one could provide a solid anchor in a five-golfer rotation during a tournament.
Still returns to the team after having led the squad in scoring in six tournaments and in most statistical categories as a rookie. That experience and a desire to develop into a premier player certainly bodes well with her new coach.
The incoming freshmen class is one of the finest in recent memory for the Wildcat team. With Swedish golfers Emma Eksell and Louise Ljungstedt, as well as a year-round player from Florida in Paige Lausier, UK believes that it hit the jackpot for rebuilding this program.
In 2006, Eksell claimed the Oijared Junior Open while placing in the top-10 in nine events and the top-20 three times. In 2005, she placed second in the Hovas Junior Open held in her native country and enjoyed six top-10 finishes.
In 2006, Ljungstedt placed in the top-10 of seven tournaments and in the top-25 seven times. She won the Srixon Junior Open, a Junior Masters Invitational and the Skandia Tour Riks tournament. Additionally, she also competed in a Telia Tour event and held the fourth lowest amateur ranking in the field.
Lausier earned a 12th place finish at the Florida State High School Tournament, carding scores of 77 and 71 over the two rounds. She earned the Marion County Player of the Year in 2003, 2004 and 2006, and was the Junior Olympics runner-up in 2005.
The newcomers will have to get acclimated to the college game, but with so much experience, the hope is that the transition will be quick.
With all of the additions, as well as the returning players, the Wildcats hope that they can take the necessary improvements in gradually becoming one of the country?s elite programs. Blackwelder knows it will not be easy though.
?Golf is too hard of a game, and it?s too humbling of a game to ever make you think that you?re there. But, we do want to work towards a common goal, with highs and lows during the season, and hopefully we?ll have the right level of managing our expectations.?
Live scoring of the tournament is available at www.golfstat.com. Complete results of the UK squad can be found at www.ukathletics.com.
