VIDEO: Suzanne Strudwick Interview

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Trips to South Carolina and Florida coupled with two tournaments in the friendly confines of East Tennessee will be the preparation for the Carson-Newman women's golf as the Eagles prepare to defend the South Atlantic Conference Championship as coach Suzanne Strudwick released her 2016 spring schedule on Wednesday.

"I think this is the level of competition and level of events we wanted to play. I've put in another Division I event and then the event with Florida Southern, the Grasslands Intercollegiate; that is going to be a big one. We start out at Kiawah, that's Tusculum's event, against a very strong field. That should give us a very good indication of where we are. The next one at Grasslands with Florida Southern will be very similar with the level of competition at Kiawah," Strudwick said. "We play on our home turf at Sevierville Golf Club with the Bobby Nichols with Tennessee Tech. We are really looking forward to that one because it's the smaller Division I schools, but I always love being in a Division I school event. It's sort of a win-win for us. The last couple of years we have played in Campbell's and done well. I think finally being able to get into this one is big for us."

A familiar course will open the spring for the team as the Eagles will play at the Kiawah Island Intercollegiate hosted by Tusculum at Cougar Point Golf Club in Kiawah Island, S.C. on Feb. 6^th and 7^th. Carson-Newman has competed in the tournament each of the last two seasons and placed ninth both times. Last season, sophomore Elizabeth England (Oakland, Tenn.) and senior Meridith Hawkins (Powell, Tenn.) led the team with a score of nine-over 153 and finished in a tie for 13^th. Florida Southern is the reigning tournament champions.

Cougar Point Golf Course was recently rated the "Golf Course of The Year", by the South Carolina Golf Course Owners Association. Originally named Marsh Point, Cougar Point was redesigned by Gary Player in 1996 and plays 6,875 yards. It features a blend of short and long par-4s, great risk/reward par-5s and extremely scenic and challenging par-3s.

After taking a week off, the Eagles make a trip to the Sunshine State for the 18^th-annual Lady Moc Classic hosted by Florida Southern at Grasslands Country Club in Lakeland, Fla. The two-day, 54-hole tournament was won last season by Rollins. The Lady Moc Classic is one of the premier regular season events at the Division II level; the 2015 edition featured every NCAA champion since the event was first held in 2000.

The par-72 Grasslands Country Club covers 6,085 yards, with holes ranging from the 110-yard, par-3 No. 10, to the 511-yard, par-5 No. 18. Opened in 1990, the course was designed by Jerry Pate & Bob Cupp and restored in 2008 by the Jerry Pate Design Group.  It has a history of hosting professional tournaments. Currently a host site for PGA Tour's Web.com Qualifying, stage one, Grasslands was also the site of the former Nike, now Web.Com Tour, event the "Lakeland Classic" and the NFPGA Tour & Club Professional Invitational. Golf Digest Magazine has rated Grasslands as one of the top clubs in the nation with the "Best Players".

"We had a team discussion on this and we were actually a late addition; we were on a waitlist and I'm glad we finally did get in. Typically, that's only open to the bigger schools. They really don't open that event up to teams like us, but winning conference and showing them we can compete got us into that event," Strudwick said. "It's a little bit of a risk for us because if we don't play well, your rankings really drop. But I'm of the mindset, and I'm really pleased that the girls were really excited and wanted to play in this event, to test their skills, to see where they were in the middle of the season and moving into the conference and defending that. It will be a big event. The girls have to practice and play through the winter before we come back in. We can't just wait for the season to start."

Carson-Newman will take nearly a month off before venturing just 30 minutes away from Mossy Creek for the fourth-annual Bobby Nichols Intercollegiate hosted by Division I program Tennessee Tech at the Eagles' home course of Sevierville Golf Club on March 21^st and 22^nd. The tournament will be played on the Highlands Course, which hosted C-N's Smokey Mountain Intercollegiate in September; Carson-Newman finished second behind Limestone at the SMI. Belmont won the 2015 edition of the Bobby Nichols Intercollegiate.  

The Highlands Course stretches 5,458 yards and plays as a par-70; the course winds through the back hills of Sevier County. The Highlands course is shorter and narrower than the River Course; the course is a championship-caliber layout as it played as the host of the 2013 SAC Championships.

The regular season finale for the Eagles will be the 19^th-annual Agnes McAmis Memorial hosted by Tusculum at Link Hills Country Club in Greeneville, Tenn. Dating back to the inception of the program in 2008, Carson-Newman has played in every Agnes McAmis Memorial and has registered six top-five finishes in seven seasons. The Eagles have never won the event, but has finished second twice and third three times. Last year, then-senior Danielle Baiunco led the team with a tie for 10^th.

Nestled in the foothills of the Great Smokey Mountains and just minutes away from historic downtown Greeneville, Link Hills's 5,800-yard layout for the women was designed by Robert Trent Jones and opened in 1955. Link Hills has hosted over 20 Tennessee State Tournaments. In 2002, Link Hills served as the host venue for the inaugural NCAA Division II Women's South Region Championship.

"I think the last two events before conference will build momentum. That's what happened last year and it worked out really well; we peaked at conference and that's what I'm hoping for again this year. The team will build conference; it's not something we have straight away. We build it and with those two last events, I think we will be on that same track," Strudwick said.

The 2016 edition of the SAC Championship will be played at Monroe Country Club in Monroe, N.C. and will be hosted by the Wingate Bulldogs; it is the first time in three years that the league's championship is being hosted outside the Volunteer State. Carson-Newman is the reigning champion of the event and has won the SAC title on three occasions. The tournament will be played over the course of three days and is scheduled for 54 holes.  

The Eagles played at the Monroe Country Club in the fall season finale in the SAC Championship Preview; C-N finished third and was led by senior Kelli Pemberton (Knoxville, Tenn.) who carded rounds of 78 and 77 to finish in a tie for third. England and freshman Taylor Hayes (Lake Ozark, Mo.) finished in a tie for seventh.

Monroe Country Club's front nine was designed by Donald Ross in 1936 and features subtle elevation changes and Ross-style greens. The back nine features a 1970's design by Tom Jackson and provides tree-lined fairways, large greens, tricky doglegs that can reward or punish any golfer.

"I'm glad we played that event. It's a course you need to play and it will be slightly different conditions than we experienced in the fall. It's a tricky little course and having the advantage of playing it, the girls will now know what to expect. There is some definite key holes that we will have to be specific where to hit it and play strategic golf and not just hit and hope. Our preparation going into that event will be pretty high on the list of things we've got to work towards," Strudwick said.

The Eagles open the season at the Kiawah Island Intercollegiate hosted by Tusculum at Cougar Point Golf Club on Feb. 6^th, 2016.