For the Georgia women’s golf team, the road to the school’s second national title will have to go through Michigan.

The third-ranked Lady Bulldogs will play in the Central Region of the NCAA Tournament in Ann Arbor, Mich., beginning on May 10.

This is the first time that Georgia has been sent to the Central Region since regional play began in 1993.

The team played in the East Regional since 1993 before being placed in the West Region for each of the last three years.

The team will be playing in the state of Michigan for the first time, but that fact does not concern head coach Todd McCorkle.

“We are confident about our chances in the regionals,” he said.

Compared to other top-ranked teams, the Lady Bulldogs got the short end of the stick.

No. 1 Arizona State and second-ranked Duke got
to stay closer to home by being placed in the West and East Regionals, respectively.

The NCAA Tournament is comprised of 63 teams divided into three regions with the top eight teams from each region advancing to the NCAA Championships in Daytona.

The 21 teams in the Central Region will provide stiff competition for the Lady Bulldogs.

They include eight of the top 30 teams in the nation, including sixth-ranked Southern California and SEC foes Vanderbilt (No. 9), Tennessee (No. 10) and Arkansas (No. 27).

The recent win in the SEC Tournament has given the team confidence heading into its biggest test of the year.

Sophomore and SEC Player of the Year Taylor Leon believes that the result of the SEC Tournament has given her team a morale boost.

“I think winning the SECs gave us confidence,” she said.

“We just have to go in there and play with a load of confidence.”