No Michigan might mean IU victory at OSU

In each of the women's golf teams last two tournaments, Michigan won and IU took second. This weekend, the Hoosiers compete in the Lady Buckeye Invitational, taking on a field that is without the Wolverines.\nBut that doesn't mean the Hoosiers anticipate an easy victory. \n"This tournament is going to be a very tough tournament with the field and the golf course we're going to be playing on," Coach Sam Carmichael said. "This is a difficult course that will test our ability. The Scarlet Course could be the finest collegiate golf course in the nation."\nCarmichael will fill out his lineup with sophomores Karen Dennison, Ambry Bishop, Danah Ford and Mary Lidester, junior Cara Stuckey and senior Tiffany Fisher. \nThe tournament will be held at the Ohio State University Scarlet Golf Course in Columbus, Ohio. The par-72, 7,141-yard course is ranked as the best collegiate golf course by Golf Digest magazine. \nJoining IU in the 15-team field are Bowling Green, Eastern Michigan, Kent State, Michigan State, Minnesota, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Ohio State (Scarlet), Ohio State (Gray), Ohio, Purdue, Toledo, Wisconsin and Xavier. \n"I'm really looking forward to it," Ford said. "We kind of had a slow start. But each tournament we keep improving. I'm just looking forward to it. There's several Big Ten schools there, so it should give us a good idea of where we stand."\nThe Hoosiers competed last weekend in the Hawkeye Invitational, where they fell victim to a dominant Michigan performance but were able to outpace the rest of the field. Michigan had a 21-stroke advantage after the first two rounds and eventually won by 15 strokes. But the Hoosiers' 903 second-place finish was 14 strokes better than third-place Iowa. \nDennison tied for seventh overall and shot a 1-under-par 72 in the final round. \n"The first day I wasn't playing so well," Dennison said. "I was hitting the ball well but not scoring well. Sunday, I played a lot better. As a team, we didn't play as well as we thought we could've."\nWith the Big Ten tournament only a week after this tournament and seven Big Ten schools competing, the Hoosiers know a solid performance could bolster hopes for a top finish in the conference.\n"It would be very big," Dennison said. "We need to get our confidence up with Big Tens the next week. Playing well would be a big confidence booster for us."\nThe competition gets started Saturday with the first two rounds and continues Sunday with the final round. Competition begins at 8:30 a.m. each day.