BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — Perhaps the toughest tournament field of head coach Adam Gary's four-year tenure awaits the WKU Lady Topper Golf team this week at Kentucky's Bettie Lou Evans Invitational.
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Sixteen teams will descend on the University Club of Kentucky's Big Blue Course (par 72, 6,221 yards) in Lexington, Ky. That includes four squads that appeared in NCAA regional play last season.
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"This is a great opportunity for us," Gary said. "It's a 16-team field, six of which are in the top 60. It's going to be stiff competition for us, but we're coming off a really good tournament at East Carolina with three girls in the top 10, so I'm confident that we'll be ready to go this week."
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The teams will play 18 holes each day Friday through Sunday, with the first round beginning at 8 a.m. CT Friday.
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The tournament is entering its 28th year but its first since 2011, but WKU sophomore Bailey Tyree said some of the Lady Toppers have familiarity with the course.
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"We have a little confidence going into it from the last tournament, and a few of us have actually played the course, so it shouldn't be too bad," Tyree said. "But it'll be nice to get some extra competition in there."
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WKU has some momentum following last week's second-place finish in a 17-team field at East Carolina's Pirate Collegiate Classic in Greenville, N.C.
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The Lady Toppers had three golfers finish in the top 10 and four in the top 15, led by seniors Georgina Blackman and Katie Story, who each tied for fifth. As a team, WKU finished behind only host East Carolina.
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Sophomore Mary Joiner also finished 10th individually at ECU, and Tyree set several career bests with a tie for 13th place – improving on her previous career low for 54 holes by 11 strokes.
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Blackman, Story, Joiner, Tyree and freshman Megan Clarke will represent the Lady Toppers for the second straight tournament at Kentucky, while freshman Caroline Cavin will also join them as an individual.
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"I think this is the deepest team we've had in a long time, which is good," Gary said. "I think the competition kind of helps push each other, and nobody can really take off in practice. They have to keep working on their games."
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