Indiana Invitational provides team final chance to play at home

The IU women’s golf team continues down the home-stretch of its schedule when it plays host to the Indiana Invitational this Saturday and Sunday at the IU Golf Course. The Hoosiers enter their home tournament coming off a fifth place finish recently at the Briar’s Creek Invitational in South Carolina.

According to IU Coach Clint Wallman, getting the most out of his team is crucial at this point in the season.

“This tournament really signifies the stretch run for us heading into the Big Ten Championships, and hopefully beyond,” Wallman said. “It’s key for us to evaluate where everyone is at and to really hone in on our game. This course offers us the opportunity to make a lot of birdies and get into that scoring mentality.”

Graduate student Kristen Schelling also stated how important it is to grab momentum and keep it going, especially against such strong competition.

“It’s always hard to play a tournament, then take time off from competition, then play again,” Schelling said. “You want to keep your good momentum going, especially when you play well, and keep the pedal-to-the-metal grind going so things on the course can flow easier.”

The Hoosiers will be entering two separate teams into the field. The first team will consist of senior Kate Coons, senior Rosie Davies, Schelling, sophomore Elizabeth Tong and freshman Marissa DeCola. 

Junior Sophie Hayashi, freshman Eva Schoenwald, sophomore Kamryn Klawitter, freshman Maria Mancini and sophomore Sarah Dusman will comprise the second squad.

The Hoosiers were able to capture this tournament title a year ago in a rain-shortened event. Coons finished in a tie for second, Tong finished for seventh, and Davies finished tied for sixteenth in last year’s event.

The field this week sets up as a challenge for the Hoosiers, Wallman said, as many teams from the Mid-American Conference, among others, will make the trip to Bloomington.

“We have a really diverse field this week with all sorts of conferences coming in,” Wallman said. “One of the strongest teams this week will be Kansas, they had a great fall in which they won three times, so they can get it going.  Eastern Michigan is a strong, lurking team from the MAC conference that we need to watch out for as well.”

This weekend’s Hoosier Invitational will serve as one of the final tune-up events for Indiana as it prepares for the 2013 Big Ten Championships, April 26-28 on the Donald Ross Course at the French Lick Resort in French Lick, Ind. The Hoosiers close out regular season play April 20-21 at the Lady Buckeye Invitational on the Scarlet Course at Ohio State University.