Arkansas Golf Fact Sheet #4

This WeekArkansas returns to the links this week for the team’s final fall event traveling to Tuscaloosa, Ala., for the UA Ann Rhoads Intercollegiate. Alabama and Auburn alternate hosting a home event and it returns to the Crimson Tide this year.Who’s traveling?First-year head coach Shauna Estes and her new assistant Mike Adams have decided on the lineup for this week. Senior Stacy Lewis is joined by junior Lucy Nunn, sophomores Kristin Ingram and Alex Schulte and freshman Kelli Shean.About the Ann Rhoads After a one-year absence, the Crimson Tide women’s golf team will once again play host to its own tournament. This time, the Tide will defend a championship at the event after capturing a team title at the 2005 UA-Ann Rhoads Intercollegiate. Once again, the field at this year’s event will feature some of the most recognized teams in women’s collegiate golf. The teams competing this fall include: Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Central Florida, Florida, Florida State, Furman, Kansas, Kentucky, LSU, Louisville, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Samford, South Carolina and Texas. More about the fieldEight of those teams qualified for NCAA Regional competition in 2007, with four teams advancing to the NCAA Championship on the LPGA International (Legends Course) in Daytona Beach, Fla. Have we met?Arkansas faces eight of the 18 teams for the second or third time this year. The Lady’Backs are 1-1 against Alabama and 0-2 against Florida in tournament action. Arkansas has defeated Central Florida twice and finished better than Kentucky, Mississippi State, Auburn, LSU and Texas.Strong SEC representationArkansas faces several SEC teams at this year’s event. In addition to host Alabama, Arkansas takes on Auburn, Florida, Kentucky, LSU, Ole Miss, Mississippi State and South Carolina in the largest SEC field outside of the league championship.Who is the team to beat?There are several. Most of the collegiate golf rankings are based on pure numbers but there are some discrepancies in the three polls. SEC members Auburn and Florida are among the highest ranked teams in the field. Arkansas at the UA Ann RhoadsThis is Arkansas’ first appearance at the UA Ann Rhoads Intercollegiate. If fact, the only other time Arkansas has attended an event hosted by the Crimson Tide was in 1998 when they hosted the SEC Championship (Arkansas was 10th that year).Lewis wins at StanfordSenior Stacy Lewis was the Stanford Intercollegiate bringing her collegiate win total to eight including the 2007 NCAA Championship. She carded a 211 for a total that ranks third all-time in the Arkansas record books for lowest three-round total.Ingram posts career bestSophomore Kristin Ingram carded a 222 79-72-71) at Stanford setting a new career best. Ingram bettered her previous low of 225 set at the Susie Maxwell last year.A Coaching ChangeThe subtle coaching change puts former Arkansas assistant coach Shauna Estes at the reigns of the 2007-08 team. Former head coach Kelley Hester returned to her alma mater in the late summer.A smooth transition followed as Estes was already an integral part of the day-to-day operations of the Lady’Back team.Named the national assistant coach of the year in May, Estes becomes the fourth head coach in the history of the Lady’Back program.Estes added an assistant as well, welcoming Mike Adams to the fold this year.