The Stetson women's golf team will enter the stretch run for the 2016 spring season on Monday when the Hatters open play in the 2016 MSU Spring Citrus Challenge.
The event, which is hosted by Morehead State University, will be played over three days at the Red Tail Golf Club in Sorrento and will include 20 teams.
“This is crunch time as we play three consecutive tournaments, wrapping up with the conference championship,” Hatters coach Floyd Kerr said. “This is what we have worked hard for. We have to come prepared for a big finish to end the spring season.”
The teams will play a practice round on Sunday before starting play with tee times beginning at 8:30 a.m. on Monday. The Hatters are scheduled to start on the 10th tee and will be paired with players from Central Michigan and Northern Kentucky.
Kerr said his team has been focused since earning a third place finish early this month at Southern Mississippi.
“As a group, we are striking the ball well and playing with confidence,” Kerr said. “We continue to strive to play to our potential. I think each player on the team has improved their arsenal of shots and can now execute them when the time comes.”
Even though not hosting this event, it is a home event of sorts for the Hatters, with the Red Tail Golf Club being just 25 miles from the Stetson campus.
“The Citrus Challenge will be played in our back yard,” Kerr said. “There are several really good teams in the field, and any of them is capable of winning this event. The early favorites would include the Hatters, as well as Elon, North Florida, Akron and Morehead State.”
Elon is the only team in the field ranked among the top 100 teams in the nation by GolfStat. The Phoenix enter play ranked 96th. The other highest ranked teams include UNF (103), Morehead State (109), Western Kentucky (126), Cincinnati (129) and Stetson (134). The field also includes junior college national power Daytona State.
There will not be live scoring from the event this week.
