The Alabama women’s golf team has had nearly a month to prepare after finishing ninth and falling 36 shots behind the winning Duke Blue Devils at the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate in early March.

The Crimson Tide will head to Athens, Ga., this weekend to compete in the annual Liz Murphy Collegiate Classic, hosted by the University of Georgia.

“We’ve gotten some hard work in and a lot of competition among the team,” head coach Mic Potter said. “The scoring around here has been good. Whether that goes into competition we will have to wait and see this week.”

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The Crimson Tide will compete in the Liz Murphy Collegiate Classic without key player Emma Talley.

“I think the priorities are – number one, we are without Emma Talley,” Potter said. “She’s a very important part of our team. Someone else is gonna get experience and a chance to prove themselves.”

Talley, a U.S. Amateur, will play in the California Kraft Nabisco Championship this weekend.

“I like the idea of being without Emma,” Potter said. “It puts a little extra pressure on everyone else, and seeing how they respond to that is really crucial to our improvement going forward.”

Senior Stephanie Meadow said she wasn’t worried about being without Talley this upcoming weekend after leading the way for the Crimson Tide and tying for third at the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate.

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“I feel comfortable,” Meadow said. “We have a lot of great players on our team. We have been working really hard, and I think it’s going to pay off.”

The pressure to do well is always a factor. However, Potter said he is optimistic about how his team has been playing.

Over the break, the Crimson Tide was scheduled to take the journey to Auburn for a match, but due to rain, the match was canceled. After canceling the match, the team came back and practiced, Potter said.

Alabama is in the final stretch toward the end of its season, with the Liz Murphy Collegiate Classic being the last tournament the Crimson Tide will play before the SEC Championship on April 18.

“Our agenda has been to get everybody as much as experience as possible and to improve every day,” Potter said. “I feel like we’re doing that. We just want to continue that agenda until we get to the postseason and to keep going forward.”

Alabama will tee off Friday at the University of Georgia Golf Club in Athens.

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