Jan. 28, 2011

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The Illinois women's golf team looks to start the 2011 spring season with a bang, as they get set to host the third-annual Illinois Challenge on Saturday, Jan. 29 in Venice, Fla. The match-play event will be played at the par-72, 6,260-yard Sarasota National Golf Club and will feature a duel meet competition against in-state rival Illinois State. The meet will include both four-ball matches and individual matches between the two teams.

"Everyone is very excited and highly motivated for this event," head coach Renee Slone said. "Everyone was happy and excited to get back to campus and we're ready to kick things off and get off to a great start to our season."

The Challenge will start with four four-ball matches at 8am on Saturday morning, followed with individual matches starting at 1pm. In the four-ball matches two players from Illinois will be paired against two players from Illinois State. Each golfer will play her own ball, with the resulting lowest score on each hole from one player winning the hole. At the end of the round the team with the most holes won wins the match and gains a point for their team. In the individual matches, it is head-to-head competition with the winner of the match securing a point for her team. There are 12 possible points available, with seven points winning the Challenge.

"It's a little different format with it being match play," Slone said. "It's a nice way to start the season and get everybody back into a competitive mood. We're not really emphasizing total score yet, so we can pinpoint different areas that each individual is doing well in and other areas that we need to continue to work on in preparation for our first full field event in the end of February."

Illinois will open its spring tournament season on Feb. 27 at the Kinderlou Forest Challenge in Valdosta, Ga.

Complete results and a full recap of the Illinois Challenge will be posted on fightingillini.com Saturday night.