March 7, 2008
Orlando, Fla. (www.ucfathletics.com) - The UCF women's golf team is set to host one of the premier events in collegiate golf, March 9-11, at RedTail Golf Club in Sorrento, Fla. The UCF Challenge To Benefit The Florida Children's Hospital will feature 15 of the nation's top 25 golf teams according to the latest Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index (March 3).
"We are excited to bring the UCF Challenge to the RedTail Golf Club this year and to partner with such great people at the Florida Children's Hospital who do so much for the Central Florida community," UCF women's golf head coach Emilee Klein said. "This should be an outstanding tournament and the course is set up to really test the skills of all the participants."
Top-ranked Duke will headline the field as the three-time defending national champions will look to repeat its victory from the inaugural UCF Challenge held last year at Grand Cypress. Blue Devil junior Amanda Blumenherst captured medalist honors a year ago and is the top-ranked player in the country entering the tournament.
The 18 teams and 96 total golfers in the 54-hole event will try to conquer the 6,301-yard, par 72 layout at RedTail Golf Club. Initial tee times are set for 8 a.m. on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday with the second wave of teams scheduled to go off at 10 a.m.
The Knights' line-up will feature sophomore Leigh Crosby (Athens, Ga.) at the No. 1 spot. Crosby is coming off her best finish of her collegiate career at the Lady Puerto Rico Classic where she had a pair of rounds under par. Junior May Tomimbang (Kissimmee, Fla.) will occupy the No. 2 spot for the Knights, while freshman Jessy Tang (Miami, Fla.) will play at No. 3. Rounding out the line-up for the hosts in the No.4 and No. 5 spots will be junior Stephanie Connelly (Pasadena, Fla.) and sophomore Victoria Tomko (Lontzen, Belgium), respectively.
Besides the host Knights and top-ranked Duke, the field includes No. 2 UCLA, No. 4 USC, No. 5 Florida, No. 8 Arkansas, No. 10 Auburn, No. 11 Purdue, No. 12 Georgia, No. 14 Alabama, No. 15 Tennessee, No. 18 Pepperdine, No. 23 Vanderbilt, No. 25 LSU, No. 36 Florida State and No. 37 Furman.
Live scoring for the three-day event will be available on www.golfstat.com.
For the latest news and information on the Knights, tickets or apparel log on to www.ucfathletics.com - the official site for UCF varsity sports. Also check out UCFPhotos.com, the exclusive fan source for UCF action sports pictures.
About Florida Children's Hospital Florida Children's Hospital is a 155 specialty bed, full-service facility served by nearly 60 Kids' Docs, the largest panel of pediatric specialists in Orlando, and a highly trained pediatric team of more than 600 employees. The dedicated children's hospital delivers a complete range of pediatric health services to younger patients, who benefit from the expertise of specialized departments throughout Florida Hospital. When construction is complete in 2010, Florida Children's Hospital will have 200 beds; private, family-centered pediatric rooms; a dedicated pediatric emergency department; an Advanced Center for Pediatric Surgery; destination pediatric programs including advanced surgery, oncology, neurosurgery, cardiology, transplant services, and full-service pediatrics; and an innovative health and obesity platform.
-UCF-