Feb. 7, 2009

The Baylor women's golf team will open its spring season Monday competing in the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge in Palos Verdes, Calif.

The three round tournament at Palos Verdes Golf Club is hosted by Ohio State and features 10 teams ranked amongst the top 25, including top ranked UCLA.

"This is quite a way for us to open up our spring season," said head coach Sylvia Ferdon. "This will be one of the top tournaments in the nation this year and it will do nothing but help us as we prepare for the Big 12 Championships in April."

Hannah Burke leads a Lady Bears squad that is coming off a fall season in which it tallied two runner-up finishes. Burke, a junior from Hertfordshire, England, carded a stroke average of 73.6 during the fall season, including four top 10 finishes.

"Hannah has great enthusiasm for the game and has a way of transferring that high energy on to her teammates," Ferdon said. "I know she has the talent to have a shot at being Baylor's first All-American for our program."

Sophomores Lene Hafsten-Morch and Morgan Chambers provide a nice one-two punch for Baylor as the Lady Bears begin spring play. With the addition of freshman Chelsey Cothran, Ferdon hopes that Baylor's depth will help them as the season progresses.

"I strongly believe that we have the talent from top to bottom to help put us up there with some of the nation's best teams," Ferdon said. "Our spring schedule is very tough, but if we play up to the level I know we're capable of, I think we'll be okay once the Big 12 Championships roll around."

The first round of the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge will begin Monday, followed by 18 more holes on Tuesday and Wednesday. Live scoring can be found at www.GolfStat.com.