April 22, 2010

 

2010 Big Ten Notes

Live Stats

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The Illinois women's golf team heads to Madison, Wis., to compete in the Big Ten Championships hosted by Wisconsin on April 23-25. The 72-hole conference tournament will be played on the par-72, 6,224-yard University Ridge Golf Course. It has been 10 years since the University of Wisconsin last hosted the annual conference championship in 2000. Play begins with 36 holes contested on Friday, followed by 18 holes on Saturday and Sunday.

"What we want for the players is to just really put together a lot of the things they have learned throughout the entire season," head coach Renee Slone said. "Whether it is the physical side of the game, the mental side of the game, or the emotional side of the game, this is a platform for them to take all of those lessons they've learned and actually apply them."

The Illinois roster for the 2010 Big Ten Championship will include Katelin Dilger, Raquel Hopton, Hailey Koschmann, Maureen Liddy, Samantha Sloan and Kaitlyn Wampler. For most of the season tournaments have been played with a play five, count four format, however for the Big Ten Championships, a play six, count four format is being used.

"The team has been working on individual things that each player needs to improve upon to prepare themselves for Big Ten's," Slone said. "We talked earlier in the week about the tournament at Ohio State and addressed some other mental aspects of the game."

All eleven Big Ten schools will be competing for the conference title with a field consisting of four teams in the top 50 of the latest Golfweek Team Rankings and nine teams ranked in the top 75. Illinois joins No. 8 Purdue. No. 13 Michigan State, No. 19 Ohio State, No. 36 Northwestern, No. 55 Indiana, No.57 Minnesota, No. 63 Michigan, No. 64 Wisconsin, No. 127 Iowa and No. 135 Penn State. Illinois is ranked at No. 73.

Last year at the Big Ten Championships, Illinois turned in a final round 306, its best round of the event and moved ahead of Minnesota on the final day to take ninth with a 72-hole total of 1278. Freshmen Nora Lucas and Hailey Koschmann paced the Illini, with Lucas posting a 72-hole total of 308 and garnered the best finish (T-6th) by an Illini since 2000, and Koschmann tying for 12th after a 72-hole total of 315.

The last time out the Illinois (978) women's golf team concluded the 30th Annual Lady Buckeye Spring Invitational, held at the par-72, 6,275-yard Scarlet Course, in ninth place out of 12 teams. The Illini had a third round total of 317 to finish the tournament 114-over par. Sophomores Katelin Dilger (245) and Hailey Koschmann (245) led the Illini individually, shooting final rounds of 76 and 81, respectively, and finished in a tied for 38th, 29-over par.

"One thing we've been talking about a lot is the fact that we have players that need to approach each tournament, each moment with no expectations," Slone said. "What happened last year was last year. What happened last week was last week. Every day is a brand new day, a brand new opportunity. What we want for each player to do it just go forth with a positive attitude and do the very best you can that particular day."

Complete coverage of the 2010 Big Ten Women's Golf Championships can be found at www.uwbadgers.com and daily updates can be found at www.bigten.org. The Big Ten Network will televise the Big Ten Women's Golf Championships in taped delay on Sunday, May 16 at 5 p.m. ET. Coverage will highlight Saturday's third round and Sunday's final round. Full coverage can also be found at fightingillini.com after every day's action is complete.

Schedule of Tournament
Friday, April 23
8 a.m. - Round 1 Begins
12:30 p.m. - Round 2 Begins

Saturday, April 24th
9 a.m. - Round 3 Begins

Sunday, April 25
8 a.m. - Round 4 Begins