Oct. 27, 2011

GREENVILLE, S.C. - Fresh off its second tournament championship of the 2011 fall season, the Samford University women's golf team will compete in the 40th Lady Paladin Invitational Golf Tournament this weekend, Oct. 28-30, at the par-72, 6,160-yard Furman University Golf Course.

Samford will be joined in the talent-laden field by Appalachian State, No. 45 Augusta State, No. 81 East Tennessee State, No. 82 Furman, Elon, No. 58 Georgia State, High Point, No. 72 James Madison, No. 76 Longwood, Montana State, 2009 Lady Paladin Invitational champion and NCAA Division II top-ranked Nova Southeastern, No. 80 South Florida, Winthrop and Wofford.

The Lady Paladin Invitational began in 1972 with Furman claiming the inaugural title and Lady Paladin Beth Solomon taking individual medalist honors. Over the years, many of the most recognizable names in women's golf have won the tournament including Betsy King, Nancy Lopez, Sherri Turner, Donna Andrews and Dottie Pepper.

The 54-hole tournament will begin Friday with opening-round play at 8 a.m. (CDT). The second round of action will tee off at 8 a.m., on Saturday with Sunday's final round being scheduled for a shotgun start at 8 a.m.

In Samford's most recent outing, the Bulldogs charged back from seven strokes down to win the championship title of the 12-team, three-round competition Tuesday at the 2011 Memphis Fall Intercollegiate with a final team score of 913 (311-293-309).

Samford finished the two-day competition tied with Memphis for first place, but was declared the winner via a scorecard playoff on holes No. 4 and 5.

The Bulldogs turned in their best round of the tournament on the second 18 holes of play as they carded a 5-over-par 293. Samford smoked the competition in the second round as the next best score was a 17-over-par 305 tallied by Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

Samford's plus-14 performance against Memphis in the second round of play propelled the Bulldogs to a decisive first-place advantage. On Tuesday's final round, Samford posted a 309 and was able to hold off Memphis for the championship title after the Lady Tigers carded a third-round total of 302.

Individually, the Bulldogs were paced by Natalie Mitchell who finished tied for third place in the tournament with a three-day total of 224 (78-70-76). Samford's sophomore native of Germantown, Tenn., also tallied the team's best score of the week with a second-round total of 2-under-par 70.

Junior Kayla Turner followed Mitchell with a 54-hole total of 227 and also earned a top-10 finish in the individual standings. Turner, a native of Clarksville, Tenn., carded her tournament-best score of 73 in the second round and finished in sole possession of seventh place.

Samford true freshman Emily Stallings tallied a 12th-place finish with a three-round mark of 230, while senior Sarah Butts totaled a 54-hole score 235 (77-76-82) and freshman Bailey Gray finished with a 239 (82-78-79). The Bulldogs' Anna Heim and Alex Jasper both competed as individuals and carded scores of 231 and 237, respectfully. Heim finished 15th in the tournament, while Jasper placed 29th.

For this weekend's 2011 Lady Paladin Invitational, admission to the tournament is free and fans are welcome. Live tournament scoring will also be available via www.FurmanPaladins.com and www.golfstat.com.