March 27, 2001

Coral Gables, FL – For the 17th consecutive year, and the 18th in the 31-year history of the tournament, the University of Miami will host the RYDER/Florida Women’s Collegiate Golf Championship, March 30-April 1, at Don Shula’s Golf Club and Resort in Miami Lakes, FL.

Play is scheduled to start at 7:30 a.m. each day and admission is free.

The tournament features the best women’s collegiate golf in Florida, as 14 schools from the state come together for three rounds to determine the state champion.

This season’s championship will be feature six teams ranked among the top-64 teams in the nation including No. 28 South Florida, defending champion and 35th-ranked Central Florida, No. 43 Florida State, No. 45 Florida, No. 57 Miami and No. 64 Florida International. Rounding out the field are Barry, Bethune-Cookman, Florida Atlantic, Florida Southern, Jacksonville, Lynn, Rollins and Stetson.

Miami looks to continue its strong start this spring. The first two competitions of the spring season have seen the Hurricanes finish second at the 10-team UCF Invitational (Feb. 12-13) and sixth at the 16-team USF Invitational (Mar. 19-20).

Miami, which has won the state title eight times, will be led by senior Ashleigh Barrett-Hamilton as it attempts to take championship for the first time since 1993. Hamilton, the team’s lone senior, has been the Hurricanes’ top finisher in three events this season and has a team low 77.5 stroke average.