Wake Forest Athletics
Demon Deacons Face Tough Field At Liz Murphey Collegiate
3/24/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
March 24, 2010
WINSTON-SALEM, NC - The Wake Forest women's golf team will continue the nation's toughest schedule this weekend at the Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic at the University of Georgia Golf Course in Athens, Ga.
There are a total of 22 teams competing this week with 19 of the 22 ranked in the top-50 of the latest Golfweek/Sagarin Ratings. Almost half of the top-25 will also be represented as 12 of the teams carry a top-25 ranking.
The first round is schedule to begin Friday morning with the second round on Saturday and the final round on Sunday. Golfstat.com will have live scoring for all three rounds.
The Demon Deacons come into the event ranked 14th in the Golfweek/Sagarin ratings and are coming off the third-lowest round in school history. Wake fired a 5-under 283 in the final round of the Tiger/Wave Classic two weeks ago in New Orleans as all five players were under par at one-point in the round.
Freshman Michelle Shin led Deacs with a season-best 3-under 69 in the final round. She made a total of six birdies on the day and finished the tournament tied for 15th at 8-over par. Sophomore Cheyenne Woods carded her fourth 2-under 70 of the season at the Tiger/Wave Classic and was the lowest Demon Deacon finisher at tied for 12th.
Woods and Shin will lead the same lineup this week at the Liz Murphey. The duo will be joined by juniors Natalie Sheary and Allie Bodemann along with freshman Stephanie Kim.
Kim posted her lowest round of the year on the final day of the Tiger/Wave Classic as she notched an even-par 72. Bodemann rebounded after a pair of tough opening rounds to also post a final round 72.
For the year, Woods tops the team with a 73.9 stroke average. Eight of her 18 rounds have been at par or better and she has finished in the top-20 four times. Sheary is averaging 74.6 strokes per round and has also posted four top-20s. Shin is close behind with a 74.9 average and is second on the team with four rounds at par or better.
This will be Wake's 11th appearance at the Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic. The Deacons have finished in the top-8 in eight of those appearances including a pair of third-place finishes in 2006 and 2003. In 2006, Mandy Goins fired rounds of 75-74-73=222 (+6) to tie for second which is the best individual for a Demon Deacon at the event.
Five of the top-10 teams in the country will be in the field this week led by No. 3 Auburn. The Tigers won both the Hooters' Collegiate Match Play and the Tiger/Wave Classic and have finished outside of the top-3 in just one event this season. ACC-foe Duke is ranked No. 6, Alabama is No. 7, Purdue is No. 9 and Florida rounds out the list at No. 10.
Nine of the teams this week will also head to the Triad next weekend for the Bryan National Collegiate at Bryan Park which the Deacons are co-hosting with UNC Greensboro.
The weather was a big factor last year in Athens as rain washed-out two of the three rounds, shortening the event to an 18-hole shootout. This year, the forecast looks more favorable as the temperatures are expected to reach the mid-60s with only a chance of rain on Sunday.
Players Mentioned
