Sept. 19, 2013

WACO, Texas - The Baylor women's golf team is headed to Franklin, Tenn., for the 13th-annual Mason Rudolph Women's Championship, hosted by Vanderbilt University.

The three-day, 54-hole event is held at the par-72, 6,337-yard Vanderbilt Legends Club North Course. The 15-team field includes Alabama, Arizona State, Auburn, Baylor, Duke, Kentucky, Michigan State, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Princeton, Texas, UCLA, Vanderbilt, Virginia and Wake Forest.

"One thing I'm looking forward to in this tournament is the caliber of the teams we are going up against," head coach Jay Goble said. "The teams in this field are the types of teams that will be playing for the NCAA championship, and we are honored to have been invited."

Baylor, which is ranked No. 32 in the latest GolfStat rankings, will be competing in the tournament for the first time in program history. The Lady Bears' lineup for the Mason Rudolph features freshman Hadas Libman, sophomore Laura Lonardi, juniors Hayley Davis and Emma Carberry and sophomore Annette Lyche. Sophomore Natalia Perez will compete in the tournament as an individual.

"The grass was our Achilles heel at the last tournament," said Goble. "The girls have spent a lot of time out at practice on their own working on their putts on grass similar to what we'll see during this tournament. They're really motivated, they know what they can improve on and they're looking to do that this weekend."

Eight teams in the tournament field are ranked in the top 25 of the latest GolfStat rankings, including No. 5 North Carolina State, No. 9 Kentucky, No. 11 Wake Forest, No. 16 Alabama, No. 17 Auburn, No. 19 Duke, No. 20 Arizona State and No. 24 Virginia. Tee times for Friday and Saturday begin at 8 a.m. CT, and Sunday's final round tees off at 7:30 a.m. Live scoring is available at www.GolfStat.com.

Follow the official twitter feed of Baylor women's golf, @BaylorWGolf, for updates throughout the season.