COLLEGE STATION, Texas - The Texas A&M women's golf team is ranked No. 20 in the Golf World/NGCA preseason coaches' poll to begin the 2011-12 season.
The Aggies finished last year No. 20 in the Golfstat Relative Ranking and No. 24 in the Golfweek/Sagarin Rankings.
Defending NCAA champion UCLA claimed the top spot in the poll earning 22 of the 32 possible first-place votes followed by No. 2 Southern California, Alabama, LSU and Virginia.
Texas A&M head coach Trelle McCombs, entering her fifth season at A&M, returns five letterwinners from a 2011 team that finished seventh at the NCAA Championship.
Leading the way for the Aggies is sophomore Katerina Ruzickova (Ostrava, Czech Republic), who was named to Golfweek's All-Freshman team and earned honorable mention All-America honors from the publication last season. Also back are juniors Sarah Beth Davis (Victoria, Texas), Susy Grunden (Krum, Texas) and Aly Smith (Houston, Texas); and sophomores Janell Lysack (Katy, Texas), Chelsea Mocio (Fort Worth, Texas) and Natalie Reeves (Euless, Texas).
Four newcomers join the squad including junior transfer Mary Michael Maggio (Conway, Ark.) and freshmen Patricia Garcia (San Juan, Puerto Rico), Kirby Kramer (Houston, Texas) and Alex Neal (Baird, Texas).
The Aggies open their season with The "Mo"Morial tournament Sept. 11-13 at Traditions Golf Club in Bryan.
GOLFWORLD/NGCA COACHES POLL
|
Rank |
Team |
Points |
NCAA |
|
1. |
UCLA (22) |
707 |
Won |
|
2. |
USC (6) |
651 |
T-5 |
|
3. |
Alabama (1) |
633 |
T-8 |
|
4. |
LSU(3) |
554 |
3rd |
|
5. |
Virginia |
483 |
4th |
|
6. |
Purdue |
482 |
2nd |
|
7. |
Duke |
479 |
DNP |
|
8. |
Arizona State |
458 |
17th |
|
9. |
North Carolina |
406 |
T-8 |
|
10. |
Arkansas |
405 |
T-5 |
|
11. |
Tennessee |
401 |
13th |
|
12. |
Arizona |
389 |
15th |
|
13. |
California |
385 |
12th |
|
14. |
Wake Forest |
335 |
14th |
|
15. |
Vanderbilt |
320 |
T-10 |
|
16. |
Florida |
315 |
T-10 |
|
17. |
Georgia |
241 |
DNP |
|
18. |
Auburn |
216 |
DNP |
|
19. |
Michigan State |
188 |
DNP |
|
20. |
Texas A&M |
135 |
7th |
|
21. |
Stanford |
133 |
23rd |
|
22. |
Pepperdine |
128 |
DNP |
|
23. |
Texas |
118 |
DNP |
|
24. |
Tulane |
102 |
DNP |
|
25. |
Notre Dame |
97 |
22nd |
Also receiving votes: Iowa State, 90; UC Davis, 79; South Carolina, 64; Washington, 45; TCU, 41; Oklahoma, 37; Ohio State, 35; Colorado, 26; Kent State, 24; Florida State, 22; Coastal Carolina, 21; N.C. State, 20; Oregon, 20; Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 19; Oklahoma State, 19; CSU-Fullerton, 16; Louisville, 14; Texas Tech, 11; Texas State, 10; Georgia State, 8; Campbell, 7; Colorado State, 5; East Carolina, 4; New Mexico, 4; Ohio, 4; Chattanooga, 2; Tulsa, 2.