Purdue crashes Indiana Invitational

Carmel, Ind. – It’s called the Indiana Invitational, making it appropriate that a team from the state of Indiana would win the tournament. However it wasn’t the Hoosiers that won, but in-state rival Purdue. \nThe No. 6 Boilermakers dominated the tournament in every way Monday and Tuesday, while No. 42 IU settled for eighth place. \nThe Hoosiers did get a good tournament performance from sophomore Anita Gahir who played three steady rounds of golf to finish in 13th place, 7-over-par. Gahir finished with scores of 73, 77 and 73, making nine birdies during the tournament.\nGahir said afterward she was pleased with her play, especially since conditions weren’t ideal.\n“I did pretty well and I was happy I was hitting the ball well,” Gahir said. “I am also happy with my (score), and it was tough out there with pin placements and the wind.”\nIU coach Clint Wallman complimented Gahir’s play after the tournament.\n“Anita is a phenomenal player and is strong from tee to green,” Wallman said. “She hits the right shots in the right situation and was a good player on a great course.” \nFollowing Gahir was senior Elaine Harris, who finished 24th – \nher best finish since Oct. 9 in the Johnie Imes Invitational. Harris finished with scores of 77, 73 and 77 while making seven birdies. \nHarris said she wants to work harder and get a better score next tournament.\n“I always wish my score is lower and I need to work on my putting (to do that),” Harris said.\nSophomore Laura Nochta, 33rd place, and senior Lauren Harling, 40th place, followed Harris, while sophomore Kellye Belcher placed 54th. \nAlso competing as individuals were junior Amber Lindgren and freshman Lauren Giesecke, who finished 55th and 64th, respectively. It was Giesecke’s first career collegiate tournament.\nWallman said the team’s play as a whole was good early but fell off as the tournament went on. \n“We didn’t play as well as we wanted to on (Tuesday),” he said. “(Monday) was pretty solid, but (Tuesday) we didn’t get anything going.”\nPurdue dominated the leaderboard as its players occupied the top three individual spots with Junthima Gulyanamitta taking home the player crown, finishing four strokes ahead of teammates Maria Hernandez and Maude-Aimee Leblanc. All three players finished a combined 13-under-par, with Gulyanamitta finishing 7-under-par and Hernandez and Leblanc each finishing 3-under-par. \nAs a team, Purdue finished 12 strokes under par, which was 42 strokes better than second-place finisher No. 44 Ohio State. Illinois, No. 26 Texas and University of Nevada, Las Vegas rounded out the top five teams. \nIU returns to action in postseason play when they head to State College (Pa.), for the Big Ten Championships on April 26.