Feb. 10, 2008

The 14th-ranked Wake Forest women's golf team will return to action Monday in the first round of the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge in Palos Verdes, Calif.

Coach Dianne Dailey will send seniors Laura Crawford and Jordan Craig, junior Jean Chua and freshmen Natalie Sheary and Allie Bodemann to compete in the first tournament of the spring semester.

Wake is coming off a win at the Landfall Tradition in the last event of the fall.

"We're in very good shape. The students were very excited about the win at the Landfall Tradition and they've used that as motivation to really work hard this semester and in the off-season," Coach Dailey said. "I think they are more prepared than they have been in the past. We're going to have a good week out there."

This will be Wake Forest's sixth appearance in the tournament since the 1998-99 season, when the event was known as the Southern Methodist-Ohio State Regional Challenge. The Deacs finished fifth last year and fourth in the 2005-06 season, the best finish for Wake on the par 71, 5,912-yard Palos Verdes Golf Course.

"It is a good field. I think it will be a very competitive tournament for us," Coach Dailey said. "The course is difficult so it points out our strengths and weaknesses pretty quickly. It's a great start for us because we can always use this to build on for the rest of the semester."

The tournament field includes six teams ranked in the top ten nationally by Golfweek including top-ranked UCLA, Arizona State (3), Southern California (4), Denver (5), Florida (6) and Arizona (8).

Sheary and Crawford led the Deacs in scoring in the fall semester as both averaged 73.8 strokes per 18 holes.

Wind will be a factor as the course sits very close to the coast.

The second round will be played Tuesday with the final round on Wednesday.

"It's one of the hardest courses we play," Coach Dailey said. "It really will tell us what we need to work on. We'll be playing the top teams, seeing how we match-up. It's good to be tested right away instead of easing into it. This tournament separates the good teams from the bad teams. We're looking forward to it and we'll see how it goes."

Live scoring will be available at www.golfstat.com.