INTERVIEW: Suzanne Strudwick Interview
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – The Carson-Newman women's golf team will make a trip to the Sunshine State for the 18th-annual Lady Moc Classic hosted by Florida Southern at Grasslands Country Club in Lakeland, Fla. in an event that features five top-10 Division II programs.
Top-ranked Rollins, Barry, who is in second, sixth-place Saint Leo's, ninth-ranked West Florida and Lynn, who is 10th, are all in this week's 17-team field in Lakeland. The Lady Moc Classic is a two-day, 54-hole tournament, which is only the second such event C-N has played this year and the first since the Rollins/Ross Resorts.
"I hope they go play their game," coach Suzanne Strudwick said of her team's reaction to the loaded tournament field. "Sometimes when you are playing with supposedly better teams and better players, you can get wrapped up in combing yourself even while you are playing and I want them to get in their own little cocoon, just get totally into what they are doing and not watch what their other two playing partners are up to."
The last time Carson-Newman was on the course the Eagles was a tie for eighth at the Kiawah Island Intercollegiate in an event where C-N had to endure cold weather and an hour rain delay. Four of the five players from that event will make the trip to the Sunshine State in freshman Taylor Hayes (Lake Ozark, Mo.), sophomore Elizabeth England (Oakland, Tenn.) and seniors Meridith Hawkins (Powell, Tenn.) and Kelli Pemberton (Knoxville, Tenn.).
England led the Orange and Blue at Kiawah with a tie for 11th after shooting a 77 on the second day. Hayes finished in a tie for 24th and capped her tournament with a second round 79.
The lone newcomer to the squad for the Classic is senior Rebekah Pruett (Niceville, Fla.). During the fall, the senior averaged a score of 84.5 with her lone round being an 81 during the second round of the Smokey Mountain Intercollegiate. Pruett's career-low round at C-N was a 78 in the first round of last season's Etowah Intercollegiate.
"This one is going to be a tough one. The same kind of field, maybe even a little stronger, than Kiawah Island with Tusculum," Strudwick said. "This one is teams within our region, most of them down in Florida. It's going to be tough. If we can finish in the top-eight, I'll be very pleased."
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. This season, the reigning national title holders, the University of Indianapolis Greyhounds, are not competing.
Joining Carson-Newman, host Florida Southern, Rollins, Barry, Saint Leo's, West Florida and Lynn in the field are: Eckerd, Armstrong State, North Carolina – Pembroke, Flagler, Embry-Riddle, Seminole State, Louisville, Palm Beach Atlantic, Tampa and Limestone.
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".
The first 36 holes of the Lady Moc Classic are scheduled for Monday with the final round slated to be played on Tuesday from Lakeland, Fla.
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