By Marquis Driver

This school year brings with it a big change and excitement for the University of Louisville with the big move to the Atlantic Coast Conference. Every U of L team gets to start a new chapter in their athletic existence, hoping to continue on with the excellence displayed in the AAC and carry it over to ACC competition.

For 2013 American Athletic Conference coach of the year Courtney Trimble and her women’s golf team this means business as usual. Fresh off of an American Athletic Conference title last season she will continue to develop the program into a national contender as she did at UCF. This year’s team looks to see how they stack up versus stiff conference competition, with 8 of the 14 teams in the ACC ranked nationally in the top 30. A top the mountain of ACC competition is defending National Champion Duke University, ranked third overall nationally and a perennial conference champion.

12 of the top 20 golfers from the ACC’s Championship Tournament are returning for another season. Junior Laura Restrepo, red-shirt junior Katie Pertin and Senior Emily Haas are among the nine returning golfers from last year’s AAC championship team. Providing the experience needed to make things interesting against what will be consistently tough competition for each and every tournament.

The schedule boasts some new tournaments and some old, starting with the IU Classic to kick things off on September 8th, followed by the Cardinal Cup which will be played at U of L’s home course in Simpsonville on September 15th and 16th. The team will then continue the season with road trips to Colorado, North Carolina, Florida, and California.

All in all this should be an exciting season, everything is brand new and U of L will have something to prove. The Cardinals are not widely considered a force nationally or even in conference play. But one thing that’s for sure is U of L doesn’t mind being the underdogs, and time and time again the Cards are ready to rise to the occasion. This 2014 season should be no different.