Team travels west with hopes of tournament glory

The women's golf team will take a trip to Trysting Tree Golf Club in Corvallis, Ore., to compete in a 21-team field for the NCAA West Regional this weekend. The tournament, played host to by Oregon State, is a three-day, 54-hole event with each round beginning at 7:30 a.m. It is the first regional to be held on the 6,089 yard, par 72 course. \nThe Hoosiers are ranked No. 33 in a Golfweek.com poll going into the regional, with All-Big Ten seniors Natalie Tucker 33rd and Inga Snyder 99th in individual rankings. Among the teams competing in the tournament, Arizona, USC, Stanford, Tennessee, Arizona State, Ohio State and Michigan State are ranked in the top 20.\nTo advance to the NCAA Championships May 22-25 at the Mission Inn Golf and Tennis Resort in Howey-in-the-Hills, Fla., the Hoosiers will need to finish in the top eight in this weekend's tournament. \nIU is coming off a comeback performance in the Big Ten tournament April 27-29. With 18 holes to play, the Hoosiers were in fifth place, but battled back to tie for second. Tucker moved from 20th to 10th and junior Tiffany Fisher tied for fifth place to lead all Hoosiers.\nThe IU squad is led by seven-time Big Ten coach of the year Sam Carmichael. Carmichael's teams earned automatic berths to the NCAA tournament, finishing 11th in 1985, 12th in 1986, 13th in 1987, 11th in 1990, 13th in 1992, eighth in 1993, 17th in 1994 and fifth in 1996.\nUCLA, Washington, Furman, Missouri, Oregon, Memphis, Nevada, Colorado State, Oregon State, BYU, Weber State and Southwest Missouri State will also be competing in the tournament.