Courtesy: GoMocs.com

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ATHENS, Ga. -- Chattanooga freshman Emma de Groot played her practice round Wednesday along with the 21 teams and other two individuals in the field for the NCAA Women's Golf East Regional under ideal weather conditions. Competition begins at 8:00 a.m. Thursday at the University of Georgia Golf Course and continues through Saturday. There will be no admission charged to spectators.

The top eight teams and the top three individuals who are not members of a top-eight team will advance from this week's Regionals to the NCAA Championships on May 20-23 in Albuquerque, N.M. While the East Regional is contested in Athens, the Central and West Regionals will be played in Austin, Texas and Lincoln, Calif. respectively.

The individual entrants that includes de Groot, along with the top 12 seeds, will tee off at 8:00 a.m. Thursday morning. Top-seeded Duke, No. 2 seed Florida and No. 3 seed Georgia will tee off beginning at 9:00 a.m. from hole No. 1. The field will swap tee times on Friday, with the top seeds hitting the course in the afternoon, including the Bulldogs, Blue Devils and Gators at No. 10 at 1:20 p.m. The teams will be re-paired for Saturday's final round based on the 36-hole standings.

Duke enters NCAA play in search of becoming the first Division I women's golf program to capture four straight national championships. Winning also is the goal this weekend.

"I think you need to play to win," head coach Dan Brooks said. "That's really the only mentality to have. If you got into this tournament, you're here to win it."

Dori Carter of Ole Miss is the highest ranked individual in the field not competing with her teammates. Carter is ranked No. 25 by Golfstat, making her the sixth highest ranked golfer in the entire East Regional field.

"I feel like it's not a shoe-in (to advance to the NCAAs)," Carter said. "I have to take care of business here. I'm practicing and getting ready, following my normal routine like I would for any other tournament and taking it one shot at a time."

Live scoring for the tournament can be found at http://www.georgiadogs.com/liveStats/liveStats.dbml.