Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
Adams announces 2019-20 Women's Golf schedule
7/24/2019 1:00:00 PM | Women's Golf, BRAA
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Head Coach Chris Adams and the Middle Tennessee Women's Golf team are set to open the upcoming season in just under two months' time, as the Blue Raiders' 2019-20 tournament schedule was made official Wednesday.
The Raiders open the season with a trio of return trips from last season's fall slate, but quickly move to somewhat of a new look schedule at the beginning of October.
Middle Tennessee opens the season with their third trip in the last four years to Tennessee's Mercedes-Benz Collegiate Championship (Sep. 16-17) before making a fifth consecutive trip to Vanderbilt's Mason Rudolph Championship (Sep. 20-22) with strong showings in both events on their resume a season ago.
The Blue Raiders took runner-up honors in Knoxville last September and beat out the in-state rival Volunteers on their home course by nine strokes in the first of their two appearances in the state of Tennessee.
Adams' squad then makes a quick trip across the state line for Kentucky's Bettie Lou Evans Invitational (Sep.27-29) the following week, where MT posted a third place finish behind only the host Wildcats and Penn State in 2018.
"With us having a younger team this year with no seniors, being able to start the season on some courses where we have a level of comfort already will really help us start strong," Adams said. "Even our incoming freshman have played some of those courses in junior golf and will come in already having some familiarity with the first three courses we see."
Middle Tennessee opens the month of October with its inaugural appearance in the Princess Anne Invitational – hosted by Conference USA foe Old Dominion on Oct. 4-6 – and closes out the fall slate with another trip to Kentucky for Louisville's Cardinal Cup (Oct. 18-20), where the Blue Raiders last appeared in October of 2016.
"Being able to get invites from Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Kentucky and Louisville, I mean those are great events that are right in our back yard and easy to travel to," Adams added. "They'll have great fields and will challenge us to play our best, so it's great to be competing in those."
The spring slate opens on March 2-3 as the Blue Raiders travel south to beat the cold weather they battled so frequently last spring, opening the semester at the Hurricane Invitational hosted by Miami. MT then gets another close look at a league rival as they compete in defending champion UTSA's Maryb S. Kauth Invitational on March 10-11.
The Raiders missed both events last season but were in the field for both in 2017-18, closing the fall in San Antonio before opening the spring in Miami.
"Old Dominon and UTSA have kind of set the standard in Conference USA the last couple of years and they're going to continue being a couple of the teams to beat, so to get to go to their home tournaments and see them plus some other teams in our league is important for us," Adams stated. "In the past we haven't seen as many conference schools in the regular season, so it'll be nice to know a little better what we're up against come conference championship time."
Perhaps the highlight of the 2019-20 women's golf schedule comes on March 19-21, when the Blue Raiders make their first trip outside of the country since February of 2006 to take on the challenging field of the Hawkeye El Tigre hosted by Iowa in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.
"For all of these great tournaments we're getting invited to, it's because of the foundation that has been built by our previous players and the success that we've had in the past," Adams said. "We're very thankful to be able to compete in so many high-level college golf events based on that track record.
"This tournament hosted by Iowa in Puerto Vallarta will be a real treat for our players. Playing in events like this has really been eye opening for our current and future players and it's great to be able to provide them with these kind of experiences both on and off the golf course."
Middle Tennessee concludes the regular season at the Brickyard Invitational (Apr. 6-7), getting its final tune-up before postseason play in its first appearance in Mercer's home event since April 2017.
The 2020 C-USA Championship (April 20-22) will once again return to the Verandah Club in Fort Myers, Fla., where the Blue Raiders hoisted their first two championship trophies on the 18th green in 2015 and 2016.
"We love Verandah, the host families, and the staff, and the golf course is just awesome," Adams stated. "We've had no bad weather in the several years we've been going there and it's exciting to get to go back. Although it's been a couple of years since we played our best there, we hope to step up our game this year and have a better result on a course we know we are comfortable on."
Should the Blue Raiders find the success they are looking for in Fort Myers, NCAA Regionals will take place on May 11-13 and are hosted by Georgia, North Carolina State, Notre Dame and Washington State.
The 2020 Women's Golf National Championship will take place from May 22-27 in Scottsdale, Arizona.
The Raiders open the season with a trio of return trips from last season's fall slate, but quickly move to somewhat of a new look schedule at the beginning of October.
Middle Tennessee opens the season with their third trip in the last four years to Tennessee's Mercedes-Benz Collegiate Championship (Sep. 16-17) before making a fifth consecutive trip to Vanderbilt's Mason Rudolph Championship (Sep. 20-22) with strong showings in both events on their resume a season ago.
The Blue Raiders took runner-up honors in Knoxville last September and beat out the in-state rival Volunteers on their home course by nine strokes in the first of their two appearances in the state of Tennessee.
Adams' squad then makes a quick trip across the state line for Kentucky's Bettie Lou Evans Invitational (Sep.27-29) the following week, where MT posted a third place finish behind only the host Wildcats and Penn State in 2018.
"With us having a younger team this year with no seniors, being able to start the season on some courses where we have a level of comfort already will really help us start strong," Adams said. "Even our incoming freshman have played some of those courses in junior golf and will come in already having some familiarity with the first three courses we see."
Middle Tennessee opens the month of October with its inaugural appearance in the Princess Anne Invitational – hosted by Conference USA foe Old Dominion on Oct. 4-6 – and closes out the fall slate with another trip to Kentucky for Louisville's Cardinal Cup (Oct. 18-20), where the Blue Raiders last appeared in October of 2016.
"Being able to get invites from Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Kentucky and Louisville, I mean those are great events that are right in our back yard and easy to travel to," Adams added. "They'll have great fields and will challenge us to play our best, so it's great to be competing in those."
The spring slate opens on March 2-3 as the Blue Raiders travel south to beat the cold weather they battled so frequently last spring, opening the semester at the Hurricane Invitational hosted by Miami. MT then gets another close look at a league rival as they compete in defending champion UTSA's Maryb S. Kauth Invitational on March 10-11.
The Raiders missed both events last season but were in the field for both in 2017-18, closing the fall in San Antonio before opening the spring in Miami.
"Old Dominon and UTSA have kind of set the standard in Conference USA the last couple of years and they're going to continue being a couple of the teams to beat, so to get to go to their home tournaments and see them plus some other teams in our league is important for us," Adams stated. "In the past we haven't seen as many conference schools in the regular season, so it'll be nice to know a little better what we're up against come conference championship time."
Perhaps the highlight of the 2019-20 women's golf schedule comes on March 19-21, when the Blue Raiders make their first trip outside of the country since February of 2006 to take on the challenging field of the Hawkeye El Tigre hosted by Iowa in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.
"For all of these great tournaments we're getting invited to, it's because of the foundation that has been built by our previous players and the success that we've had in the past," Adams said. "We're very thankful to be able to compete in so many high-level college golf events based on that track record.
"This tournament hosted by Iowa in Puerto Vallarta will be a real treat for our players. Playing in events like this has really been eye opening for our current and future players and it's great to be able to provide them with these kind of experiences both on and off the golf course."
Middle Tennessee concludes the regular season at the Brickyard Invitational (Apr. 6-7), getting its final tune-up before postseason play in its first appearance in Mercer's home event since April 2017.
The 2020 C-USA Championship (April 20-22) will once again return to the Verandah Club in Fort Myers, Fla., where the Blue Raiders hoisted their first two championship trophies on the 18th green in 2015 and 2016.
"We love Verandah, the host families, and the staff, and the golf course is just awesome," Adams stated. "We've had no bad weather in the several years we've been going there and it's exciting to get to go back. Although it's been a couple of years since we played our best there, we hope to step up our game this year and have a better result on a course we know we are comfortable on."
Should the Blue Raiders find the success they are looking for in Fort Myers, NCAA Regionals will take place on May 11-13 and are hosted by Georgia, North Carolina State, Notre Dame and Washington State.
The 2020 Women's Golf National Championship will take place from May 22-27 in Scottsdale, Arizona.
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