COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS - The Texas A&M women's golf team travels to the Mason Rudolph Fall Preview this week, hosted by Vanderbilt University at the Legends Club in Franklin, Tenn., just south of Nashville.
The 16th-ranked Aggies are one of the top 18 teams in the country that get a crack at the course that will host the 2012 NCAA Women's Golf Championships. The top 12 teams from the 2011 NCAA Championship are automatically invited, as are the teams that finish in the top 10 of the final Golfstat rankings that did not make the top 12 at nationals.
Joining A&M is No. 1 UCLA, No. 2 Southern California and No. 3 Alabama. Following those squads in the Fall Preview field are: Arizona (No. 10 Golfweek, No. 12 Golf World), Arizona State (No. 12, No. 8), Arkansas (No. 14, No. 10), California (No. 4, No. 13), Duke (No. 6, No. 7), Florida (No. 13, No. 16), Georgia (No. 11, No. 17), LSU (No. 8, No. 4), North Carolina (No. 5, No. 9), Purdue (No. 16, No. 6), Tennessee (No. 7, No. 11), host Vanderbilt (No. 18, No. 15), Virginia (No. 9, No. 5) and Tulane, (No. 24, No. 30).
"The Preview is the premier event in college golf during the fall season," said head coach Trelle McCombs. "To be able to get a look at the golf course that will host the national championship is a huge advantage, especially a course like Legends. This is one of the toughest fields we'll face all season, but we should know how we stack up against the best teams in the country."
Eighteen holes will take place on Friday through Sunday, with fixed tee times on number one and 10 starting at 8 a.m. (CT) on Friday and Saturday and 7:30 a.m. (CT) Sunday. The Legends North Course will be set up as a par of 72 over 6,451 yards.
Representing Texas A&M this week will be sophomores Katerina Ruzickova and Natalie Reeves and juniors Mary Michael Maggio, Aly Smith and Susy Grunden. The Aggies will be paired with Arkansas and Tulane and for the first round Friday and tee off beginning at 9:34 a.m. (CT).
Live hole-by-hole scoring will be available on Golfstat.com. Also follow the Aggies throughout the day with updates on Twitter @Aggiewomensgolf.