With spring football still to come, one Texas team will head to New Orleans to participate in Sunday’s Allstate Sugar Bowl. That team is the No. 24-ranked women’s golf squad. 

In its third year, this version of the Allstate Sugar Bowl is one of the premier women’s intercollegiate golf tournaments in the nation. Hosted by Tulane University, this year’s Allstate Sugar Bowl tournament will feature some of the toughest competition in the nation.  

Out of the 18 teams participating in the Allstate Sugar Bowl, 10 are ranked in the Golfstats.com Top 25. This includes the top-ranked University of Southern California Trojans, the No. 2 Duke Blue Devils, the defending team champions of the Allstate Sugar Bowl, and the defending national champion, now ranked No. 4, Alabama Crimson Tide.

The English Turn Golf & Country Club is a challenge in itself. The designer of the Par 72, 7,078-yard course, was none other than Jack Nicklaus. Many of the holes are guarded by sand and waste bunkers and have huge tiered greens. Water comes into play on all 18 holes.

Despite challenging conditions and teams, the Longhorns will seek to improve on their fourth place finish from last week’s Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge. 

The team still seeks more consistency as head coach Martha Richards talked about before entering the spring season. In three of the four tournaments they participated in this 2012-13 season, the Longhorns, as a team, have scored their lowest rounds in the final round of competition.

Although the Longhorns’ season is still young, this tournament will play a significant role in the team’s progression toward the Big 12 and NCAA Championships in April and May, respectively.