WACO, Texas - The Baylor women's golf team is headed to Athens, Ga., to compete in the 43rd-annual Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic, hosted by the University of Georgia. The Lady Bears are making their first-ever appearance at the tournament.

The three-day, 54-hole event, which runs Friday through Sunday, is held at the par-72, 6,401-yard University of Georgia Golf Course. The 12-team field includes Alabama (No. 23), Arkansas (No. 6), Auburn, Baylor, Duke (No. 5), Georgia, Northwestern, Purdue, South Carolina (No. 3), Southern California (No. 2), Stanford (No. 16), and UCLA (No. 4). The field also includes teams that have won 13 of the past 15 NCAA Championships.

"The weather has been good," head coach Jay Goble said. "We've played a good amount of golf the last week. The girls have been on the golf course, which is how we prepared for the first tournament of the year. We're going to a good golf course with a good field. I think the girls play better against better teams, and they also feel confident on really challenging golf courses. Their games will stack up well against really good golf players."

Baylor's lineup for the Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic features senior Hayley Davis, junior Laura Lonardi, freshman Dylan Kim, freshman Giovana Maymon and freshman Lauren Whyte.

"This is Lauren's first collegiate tournament," Goble said. "She earned her spot in this tournament. She played well in the qualifier round this week. I'm excited for her to go to an event, and I think she's very confident to get out there and play this weekend."

Seven teams in the 12-team field are ranked in the top 25, including No. 2 Southern California, No. 3 South Carolina, No. 4 UCLA, No. 5 Duke, No. 6 Arkansas, No. 16 Stanford, and No. 23 Alabama. Baylor is currently ranked No. 34, according to the latest Golfstat rankings.

"I think the biggest thing for us is the last two tournaments where we didn't play our best," Goble said. "We struggled a little bit with weather before one of them, and then Hawaii was a bit of a distracting place to go to play golf. Getting back into school, getting back from spring break and getting back into their normal lives has prepared them well."

The tournament will be played in match-play format with Friday's round consisting of teams playing to determine their seeding for the rounds on Saturday and Sunday.

Live scoring for the tournament will be available on www.birdiefire.com. Follow the official twitter feed of Baylor women's golf, @BaylorWGolf, for updates throughout the season.