Troy Sets Sights on Sun Belt Women’s Golf Championship

TROY, Ala. – One year after being pulled off the course to have their season canceled due to COVID-19, the Troy women's golf team returns to that same course for the Sun Belt Women's Golf Championship Sunday through Tuesday at LPGA International Hills Course in Daytona Beach, Fla. The Sun Belt will have complete coverage of all three rounds on ESPN+.

Troy was in the midst of their second round at the Lady Cat Invitational on March 12, 2020, when the call came through saying that would be the last round of their season. The Trojans won the event with ShaeLee Scarberry, Nicole Lorup and Elisabeth Preus all turning in top seven finishes individually.

"Our energy level is super high right now," head coach Randy Keck said. "Everybody was completely distraught with the way last year ended. We were in a great rhythm and the rug was pulled out from under us. There has been a big sense of anticipation heading back to that same golf course and playing in the Sun Belt Championship after we didn't get the opportunity last year."

The Trojans will turn to sophomore Nicole Lorup at the top of the lineup. She has five top 10 finishes in Troy's nine events this year and leads the Trojans with a 2.23 score vs. par, five rounds in the red and with 96.2 (25-of-26) rounds counting towards the team card. Lorup has a pair of under-par rounds on the course in her career.

Scarberry will make her debut performance in the Sun Belt Championship and enters second on the team with a 3.77 score vs. par and three rounds under par this season. She finished second on the course last year at the Lady Cat Invitational after shooting a 3-under 69 in the opening round.

Troy enters the Sun Belt Championship as the No. 6 seed coming in with a Golfstat national ranking of No. 105. Lorup ranks seventh in the Sun Belt with her 2.23 score vs. par while Scarberry is tied for 21^st and Preus is 35^th.

"We have worked really hard all spring but have been hampered a little by the weather and haven't been able to practice outside as much as we'd like," Keck said. "The course set up is going to put a lot of pressure on players' wedge games and the 8-to-10 foot putts. We're going to need some quality iron shots and to take advantage of our strength on the par-3 holes."

Preus enters the weekend with a 4.62 score vs. par and is second on the team with all but two of her 26 rounds counting towards the team card. She shot a round of 1-under on the course last year and is looking for her first under-par round of this season.

Anna Claire Little is not far behind Preus with a 5.09 score vs. par for the year as she enters with a pair of top 10 finishes, second most behind Lorup, and a low round of 70 on the year. Elizabeth Caldarelli will occupy the fifth spot in the lineup for the Trojans as she makes her Sun Belt debut after transferring from Texas A&M.

The Field – Seeding Based on Golfstat Rankings
No. 1. Texas State, No. 2 Coastal Carolina, No. 3 South Alabama, No. 4 Arkansas State, No. 5 ULM, No. 6 Troy, No. 7 Georgia Southern, No. 8 Little Rock, No. 9 Georgia State, No. 10 App State, No. 11 UT Arlington

T-Time
Troy will be in the first group off the No. 1 tee box Sunday morning along with Arkansas State and ULM. The first threesome will tee off at 7 a.m. (CT).

Troy Sets Sights on Sun Belt Women’s Golf Championship

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Players Mentioned

Elizabeth Caldarelli

Anna Claire Little

Nicole Lorup

Elisabeth Preus

ShaeLee Scarberry

Troy University Athletics