IU women’s golf will be part of a 14-team field in the final tournament before the Big Ten Championships.
The Hoosiers will be coming off a three week break from competitive play when IU makes the trip to Columbus for the Lady Buckeye Invitational.
Rain could affect the schedule and play.
“With what the weather conditions are looking like, it’s going to be a bit of a challenge,” Wallman said.
With Big Ten Championships coming up April 20, IU will look to make some final tuneups.
“We give ourselves a lot of opportunities — it’s just about being efficient,” IU Coach Clint Wallman said. “I don’t think there’s one area where that we need to improve on, it’s just more that we take care of our own business and are efficient on and around the green.”
IU will be coming off its eighth consecutive top 10 finish after placing eighth at the Clemson Invitational in late March.
“We did a pretty good job with our decision-making process,” Wallman said. “Our par-fives were much better.”
The Lady Buckeye Invitational comes at a convenient time for IU as the team will be playing less than 100 miles away when they travel to Maineville, Ohio, for Big Ten play.
“This golf course is great preparation for Big Ten,” Wallman said. “It is a really challenging golf course.”
Two of IU’s top three golfers this season have been freshmen Mary Parsons and Priscilla Schmid.
However, senior Alix Kong's leadership has made major contributions to IU’s success this year. Kong is just one of two seniors on the team.
“Alix has been a staple of our program for four years,” Wallman said. “She provides a huge amount of experience. I thinks she’s poised to have a good tournament to finish out her college career real strong.”
Of the teams in the field, three are ranked in Golfstat’s top-20 rankings. There will be eight Big Ten teams, including the Hoosiers.
“Ultimately, golf is a competition of you against yourself,” Wallman said. “We just have to manage ourselves and do well. If we do our job, we’re going to be in a good position at the top part of the field.”
The field is scheduled to tee off at 8:30 a.m. Saturday for the first two rounds of play and the same time on Sunday for the third round.
