WGolf: Georgia Hosts Liz Murphey Classic

Friday-Sunday at the University of Georgia Golf Course. The event is one of the longest running in women's intercollegiate athletics and annually draws many of the nation's premier teams to Athens.

"This tournament is very special but even more so for me because of my relationship with Liz," said Kelley Hester, Georgia's first-year head coach who lettered for the Bulldogs from 1993-96. "Not every program has the opportunity to host such a historic event on a fantastic golf course. To me, spring means it's time for the Liz Murphey. It's very special for me to get to host the Liz Murphey as head coach at the University of Georgia."

Tee times begin at 9:00 a.m. each morning. Georgia will be paired with Duke and Auburn on Friday beginning at 10:40 a.m. Saturday's tee times and pairings will be determined by first-round results. Sunday's round will feature a shotgun start.

Top-ranked Duke headlines this year's field, which includes 12 of the top-25 teams in the latest edition of the Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index. Following the Blue Devils are No. 6 Purdue, No. 10 Auburn, No. 11 Wake Forest, No. 12 Arkansas, No. 13 Georgia, No. 14 Alabama, No. 16 Tennessee, No. 18 Kent State, No. 20 LSU, No. 22 Texas A&M and No. 25 Vanderbilt. Rounding out the competition are Florida State, Furman, Kentucky, South Carolina, UCF and Virginia.

An equally impressive individual field will be on tap, with seven of the nation's top-20 golfers. Top-ranked Amanda Blumenherst of Duke is the reigning National Player of the Year and ranked No. 1 in the nation, while Arkansas' Stacy Lewis, the 2007 NCAA individual champion, currently holds the No. 2 slot. Florida State's Caroline Westrup, who is ranked No. 15, won the Liz Murphey individual title in 2006 and will attempt to become just the fifth two-time champion in the event's history.

Hester's Bulldogs will be in action for the third time in as many weeks. Georgia placed sixth at both the UCF Challenge and the LSU/Cleveland Golf Invitational during spring break last week. Senior Garrett Phillips finished third individually at the UCF Challenge, while freshman Krystle Caithness was fifth in Baton Rouge. Those two top a balanced Bulldog lineup that also will include junior Mallory Hetzel, sophomore Carolina Andrade and freshman Innapha Tantanavivat.

The Classic began humbly in 1973 as the Georgia Invitational before becoming the Women’s Southern Intercollegiate Championships from 1977-94. In 1995, the tournament was renamed in honor of Liz Murphey, UGA’s Hall of Fame golf coach and long-time Senior Woman Administrator.

"I was a golfer at Georgia when Beans (Kelly) pulled out the flag and surprised Liz with the renaming of the tournament," Hester said. "I remember how special it was and the look on Liz's face."

The list of golfers who have competed collegiately in the tournament reads like a “Who’s Who” of women’s golf, including LPGA Hall of Famers Beth Daniel, Betsy King and Julie Inkster.

Georgia and Tulsa have enjoyed the most success on both the team and individual fronts, combining to win 17 team and 12 individual titles between them. Tulsa swept four straight team and individual crowns from 1982-85. Georgia has won 12 team titles and has produced 10 medalists.

Auburn led wire-to-wire to win last year’s team championship, while Virginia’s Leah Wigger captured medalist honors.

The Tigers were the only team to break 300 in an extremely windy opening round and expanded a seven-stroke edge following the first day into an eventual 11-shot victory over runner-up Florida. Wigger bogeyed No. 18 to force a playoff with Purdue’s Maria Hernandez but then birdied the first extra hole to secure the victory.