Oct. 24, 2010
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -
The Illinois women's golf team will be back in action on Oct. 25-26 as they travel south to Germantown, Tenn., for the First Annual Memphis Women's Invitational, hosted by the University of Memphis. The tournament will be held at the par-71, 6,176-yard Ridgeway Country Club, with 36 holes played on Monday and 18 holes played on Tuesday, with both days having an 8 a.m. shotgun start.
"This is a brand new tournament for us," head coach Renee Slone said. "It is also the first year that the University of Memphis is hosting this tournament. An advantage in a brand new tournament is that you go in with absolutely no expectations because you have no idea what exactly the course is. It's new in all ways, which is nice and that way we can just focus playing good golf, playing our games."
The Illini will be joined in the 18-team field by host Memphis, Arkansas State, Austin Peay, Belmont, Boise State, Butler, Cincinnati, Evansville, Indiana State, IPFW, Marshall, Mississippi State, Missouri-KC, Missouri State, Samford, Southern Mississippi, and UAB.
"The first round is a different mental approach," Slone said. "Just going into that round relaxed, with no expectations is important. Obviously, everybody has their game plans they have in their minds of how they're going to play each hole, but we want them just focusing on themselves, what they can do to best help the team and working hard, but not forcing it."
Junior Samantha Sloan, coming off a career tournament, will be looking to continue her success at the Memphis Women's Invitational. Sloan will be joined by freshman Ember Schuldt and fellow juniors Hailey Koschmann, Nora Lucas and Katelin Dilger. Dilger will be making her 2010-11 season debut.
Last time out Illinois placed ninth at the Lady Northern Invitational with three-round total of 909. The Lady Northern Invitational is commonly referred to as the Big Ten Preview because the tournament is held at the site of the 2011 Big Ten Championships in Glencoe, Ill. The Orange and Blue had the fourth-lowest final day round, shooting a 298. Sloan finished in a tie for 15th after carding a final round 69 to finish the tournament at five-over par at 221. Sloan's scores of 69 and 221 were both career bests.
"The big thing is going into every round ready to play and in the right frame of mind," Slone said. "What's key is being calm, relaxed, composed, but excited to go out and play to the best of their ability. That is step number one, then after that the golf takes care of itself."
For coverage of the Illinois women's golf team at the Memphis Women's Invitational, visit fightingillini.com for a full recap at the end of each day's action. Fans can also follow the action live by going to golfstatresults.com.
