FAYETTEVILLE — The first postseason competition in two years for SEC golf programs tees off today.
The SEC women’s golf championship will take place the next five days at the Greystone Golf & Country Club in Hoover, Ala.
University of Arkansas Coach Shauna Taylor will bring the No. 11 team in the country into the event, which the Razorbacks won in 2018.
Arkansas, coming off a fifth-place finish at the LSU Tiger Golf Classic, will be led by junior Brooke Matthews of Rogers, who won the inaugural Blessings Collegiate Invitational to start the season and has seven top-10 finishes in eight events this year. Matthews, who made the cut to 30 at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur a couple of weeks ago, placed second at the LSU event on Thursday.
No. 1 South Carolina, with a record of 90-5 in seven events this season, is the favorite. Other SEC teams in the top 25 are No. 4 Ole Miss, No. 5 LSU, the Razorbacks, No. 12 Auburn, No. 23 Florida and No. 25 Vanderbilt.
Joining Matthews in the Arkansas lineup are sophomores Ela Anacona, Julia Gregg and Kajal Mistry, and freshman Cory Lopez. Anacona, Mistry and Lopez will be making their postseason debuts at the SEC championships.
Gregg has three top-15 finishes in her past four events, including a career-best 10th in Baton Rouge last week.
Mistry has two top 30 showings in her last three events, as well as a 16th at the Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic in November. Anacona also tied for 16th at the Liz Murphey and has two other top-25 finishes this season.
Lopez has posted back-to-back top 30 performances heading into the postseason.