Lady'Back Linksters return to road for tough test

FAYETTEVILLE — The 20th-ranked University of Arkansas women’s golf team returns to the road for the second consecutive week traveling to the 2006 Women’s Fall Preview in Daytona Beach, Fla., Friday-Sunday. Arkansas opened the season last week at the Mason Rudolph Championship in Franklin, Tenn., finishing 12th in the inaugural event. The Lady’Backs made a small lineup change and face the toughest field in collegiate golf this week. "Most of the teams in this field are ranked ahead of us," said Arkansas head coach Kelley Hester. "We can’t really afford to have bad day. This tournament is a chance for us to see the NCAA Championship course and to test ourselves against the best teams in college golf this year. This is the best field of the year until the NCAA Championship." Arkansas enters the week ranked 20th by GolfWorld and 27th by Golfstat. In addition to the Lady Razorbacks the field consists of top-ranked and defending national champion Duke, No. 2 Arizona State, No. 3 Georgia, No. 4 Auburn, No. 5 Purdue, No. 7 UCLA, No. 8 Southern California, No. 9 Florida, No. 10 Vanderbilt, No. 11 Wake Forest, No. 12 Virginia, No. 14 Tennessee, No. 15 Oklahoma State, No. 16 Texas A&M, No. 18 California, No. 19 UNLV and host Central Florida. Arkansas opened the season with a 12th-place finish at the Mason Rudolph fielding a very young team. The Lady’Backs again ask a young squad to meet the challenge this week. Headlining the Arkansas lineup is junior two-time all-American Stacy Lewis. Lewis finished tied for 11th last week after a slow start in the first round. Also traveling is junior Ashley Medders, Sophomore Lucy Nunn, and freshmen Alexandrea Schulte and Tanica van As. Van As joined the Lady Razorbacks in January of this year but is making her first appearance in the lineup for the Cardinal and White this weekend. "We’ve spent this week working on course management issues and trying to cut down on some of the mental mistakes that hurt us last week," said Hester. "I do feel like right now, this is our best lineup." Arkansas has a very busy fall season with five events scheduled. The Lady’Backs travel to the Mercedes-Benz Collegiate Classic in Knoxville, Tenn., Oct. 13-15, followed by the Peg Barnard Invitational in Palo Atlo, Calif., Oct. 20-22. The fall concludes at the Hooters Match Play Championship in Orlando, Fla., Nov. 3-5, as the Lady’Backs return to the Sunshine State for the second time. For more information about Arkansas golf, log on to LADYBACKS.COM.