Wake Forest Heads To Mercedes Benz Championship This Weekend
10/15/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
Oct. 15, 2009
Live Scoring | Tournament Website
WINSTON-SALEM, NC - The No. 23-ranked Wake Forest women's golf team will head to Knoxville, Tenn., this weekend to play in the Mercedes Benz Championship hosted by the University of Tennessee at the Fox Den Country Club.
This will be the Demon Deacons' fourth appearance in the event, which is being played for the 13th time. Wake played in the first three events from 1997-99, finishing 12th in each of the first two years and third in 1999 behind Nuria Clau's second place finish.
The Wake Forest lineup will feature the same five that played last weekend at the Lady Tar Heel Invitational. Last week's event was the first tournament in almost a month for the Deacs, who shook the rust off with a ninth place finish.
Junior Natalie Sheary led the team, finishing tied for 11th after rounds of 71-73-74=218 (+2). Sophomore Cheyenne Woods opened with a pair of even par 72s but would finish with a 77 to tie for 21st. Sheary and Woods lead the team in stroke average through two events with a 72.7 and a 73.3 average, respectively.
Freshman Michelle Shin has gotten off to a good start in this her first season as she is third on the team with a 73.7 average through six rounds. Last week, she posted three solid rounds of 75-73-74 and finished tied for 31st.
Senior Dolores White and junior Allie Bodemann will round out the Deacon lineup this weekend. White's low round came on the second day of the Lady Tar Heel when she carded a 1-over 73 while Bodemann's best effort came in the opening round of the year at the Topy Cup in Japan, when she fired an even-par 72.
Head coach Dianne Dailey knows the quick turn around will be tough but believes the team is ready.
"We didn't play as well as we would have liked last week but I thought it was good that we got back into the competitive mode," said Dailey. "We had a couple of good days of practice this week and I think we're ready to go."
The Deacons will have to bring their A-game as the Mercedes Benz Championship usually attracts a strong field and this year is no different. Twelve of the 18 teams in the field are ranked in the top-50 of the latest Golfweek/Sagarin rankings, led by defending champion LSU at No. 8. Fellow SEC-foe Florida comes in a No. 10 followed by Ohio State at No. 14, Tennessee at No. 22 and then the Deacons at No. 23.
A major factor this weekend will be the weather as temperatures are not supposed to get much above 50 degrees with a chance of rain on both Saturday and Sunday. Dailey knows the importance of being mentally tough in those conditions.
"We have talked to the students about the weather this week and how the teams that are mentally tough and don't let the weather bother them are the ones that will come out on top," Dailey said. "It's going to be a challenge, but it's one I think we're ready for."
Live scoring will be available for all three rounds of the event through Golfstat.com. Check back to www.WakeForestSports.com for recaps and results after each round.
Players Mentioned
