Sept. 7, 2012

OXFORD, Miss. – For the sixth consecutive year, the Ole Miss women’s golf team will open its fall schedule at the Cougar Classic in Charleston, S.C.

The tournament, which runs Sunday-Tuesday, is hosted by the College of Charleston at Yeamans Hall.  The field for the three-day tournament includes 10 of the top 15 teams from the 2012 NCAA Championship, including each of the top five.

The field includes several ranked teams including: No. 2 Alabama, No. 3 Southern Cal, No. 4 LSU, No. 6 North Carolina, No. 7 Auburn, No. 8 Duke, No. 9 Vanderbilt, No. 12 Georgia, No. 13 Florida, No. 15 Tennessee No. 18 South Carolina, No. 21 Virginia and No. 23 N.C. State.

Charleston Southern, Furman, Maryland, Miami, Ole Miss, Penn State, Central Florida, UNC Greensboro, Wake Forest and Wisconsin round out the field.

The five golfers to represent Ole Miss during the tournament are seniors Haley Sanders and Ericka Schneider, sophomore Taelor Rubin, freshman Abby Newton and redshirt freshman Alison Hovatter, who will be making her first career start.

During the Cougar Classic in 2011, Haley Sanders posted what was her second career top-20 finish (215) while the Rebels finished 11^th as a team out of a field of 22.

The Rebels are coming off a 2011-12 season in which the team earned its fourth-consecutive NCAA Regional bid. The team is led by Sanders, who played in all 10 tournaments last year and recorded four top-20 finishes and Schneider who competed in nine tournaments last season and earned two top-20 finishes.  

For all the latest news on the women’s golf team, follow the team on Twitter @OleMissWGolf and on Facebook at Facebook.com/OleMissWGolf.