Hoosiers begin season in Florida

The IU women's golf team will open its spring season at the Central District Classic today. \nThe River Wilderness Golf and Country Club will host the Monday and Tuesday tournament in Parrish, Fla. Michigan State will host the 54-hole event, and the Hoosiers will be among 15 teams in the field, 10 of which are in this week's Golfweek Top 50. \nThe tournament will consist of the first two rounds on Monday, with the final round teeing off Tuesday morning. The Hoosiers have played in the Classic the last two years, finishing No. 10 and No. 12, respectively. Senior Karen Dennison posted a school-best eighth place finish last spring with a three-round total of 225. \nThe Hoosiers return to action after a fall season in which the team posted top 10 finishes in all four of its tournaments, including second at the Shootout at the Legends in October. Senior Danah Ford led the team during the fall season with a stroke average of 75.25, just ahead of teammate and All-American Dennison, whose average stands at 75.58. Sophomore Molly Redfearn was the only other Hoosier to play in every round of the fall season, carding an average of 77.42.\nThe Central District Classic will be the first opportunity for the team to play outdoors, but IU coach Sam Carmichael doesn't believe it will be a disadvantage.\n"It will be good to be outdoors playing and practicing for a few days rather than inside hitting into nets," Carmichael said. "Hopefully, we can start well in Florida and go on to have a good spring season. The majority of the teams participating will be like us -- not having any outdoor practice time prior to this event."\nTraveling for the Hoosiers this week along with Dennison, Ford and Redfearn will be senior Ambry Bishop and sophomore Lissa Putnam. Bishop played in three tournaments during the fall, placing a season-best No. 47 in the Shootout at the Legends with a 240. Putnam also played in three tournaments for the Hoosiers, with her best finish coming at the Lady Northern Invitational, where her three-round total of 235 was good enough for a tie for No. 31.