After falling out of the top 25, Texas seeks to change with the rising tide.
Since finishing fifth in the Dr. Donnis Thompson Invitational in Oahu, Hawaii, the No. 27 Longhorns are now at a crossroads with the Big 12 Championship looming just three weeks away. The team hopes the coastal change will bring them luck as they look to surge into the postseason.
This weekend, the Longhorns will partake in the second annual Clemson Invitational at The Reserve at Lake Keowee Golf Club, hosted by its namesake, Clemson University. The three-day, 54-hole tournament will begin Friday and last until Sunday.
There are a total of 17 teams participating this weekend, including three teams in the top 10 and seven in the top 30. The top-10 teams include No. 4 Florida State, No. 5 Florida and No. 8 Furman.
Texas’ lineup will include two top-100 players, freshman Greta Isabella Voelker and junior Sophia Schubert, as well as seniors Haley Mills and Julia Beck and freshman Emilee Hoffman. Twenty-three of the nation’s top-100 players will be participating this weekend.
The top overall player competing in this tournament will be Florida State’s Morgane Metraux, the NCAA’s No. 6 overall player.
Texas’ last three finishes include the fifth-place finish in Hawaii, a lost head-to-head shootout against Texas Tech and a seventh-place finish in New Orleans.
The team has begun to skid as of late and needs a big tournament to build some much-needed confidence before heading to Columbus, Ohio for the Lady Buckeye, and then to the Big 12 Championship, to be held in San Antonio.
Texas will be competing against one other Big 12 team in this tournament, Red River Rival No. 22 Oklahoma. They are two of the Big 12’s top teams, along with No. 25 Texas Tech, No. 20 Baylor and No. 19 Oklahoma State.
If the Longhorns do well this weekend, expect them to carry their momentum with them throughout the next few weeks. If not, however, they have one final chance to right the ship before things begin to really get serious.