March 10, 2011

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The Illinois women's golf team will head south for their second tournament of the spring season, as they travel to Orange Park, Fla., for the Eagle Landing Invitational, hosted by James Madison on Mar. 11-13. The 54-hole tournament will be played at the par-72, 6,282 yard Eagle Landing at Oakleaf Plantation. Teams will play 18 holes each of the three days, with split tee times on all three days ranging between 8 and 10 a.m.

"It's huge for confidence, knowing that we have experienced success there before, played this golf course well," head coach Renee Slone said. "We know the golf course obviously very well since this will be our third year that we've played there. I think the team members seem to really enjoy this tournament because we stay in private housing and they'll be staying with the same couple for the third year in a row, so that adds a certain level of comfort. I think all those things add up and hopefully lead to a very successful tournament."

Illinois, ranked at No. 55 in the Golfweek/Sagarin rankings, will be joined in the 18-team field by No. 32 Chattanooga, along with host James Madison, East Carolina, Maryland, South Florida, Kennesaw State, Stetson, Central Arkansas, Campbell, Miami, UNC-Greensboro, Elon, Jacksonville, Florida Golf Coast, Georgetown, Longwood, and Illinois State.

"We are looking to win this event," Slone said. "We know that we are fully capable of doing that and if we just take care of our business and the little things, which will put us an excellent position to do that. We can't control what any of the other teams do, but we definitely have the talent to win this event."

Junior Katelin Dilger will make her spring debut after competing in two tournaments during the fall season. Dilger will be joined by fellow juniors Hailey Koschmann and Samantha Sloan, as well as sophomore Crystal Smith and freshman Ember Schuldt at the Invitational.

"For this tournament, we did have qualifying rounds outside and the two low scores from that qualifier qualified for this tournament," Slone said. "Katelin was one of the two low scores. She played very solid during the qualifier. The holes that I watched her play, you couldn't have played any better. She's definitely looking forward to the tournament."

This is the third straight year the Illini will be participating in the Eagle Landing Invitational. Illinois found success at the event last season with Koschmann coming away with medalist honors, while as a team Illinois finished second, only six strokes off of tournament champion South Florida. Koschmann had a career tournament finishing with a 54-hole total of 214, her career best 54-hole tournament total, which included a first round three-under par 69, the junior's career low round.

"We are better than the results that we had at Kinderlou," Slone said. "I think they are looking forward to going to a golf course that they are familiar with and have been successful on before. It's a tournament that they enjoy and they're just really looking forward to having three solid rounds to put together a good team score."

The Orange and Blue look to improve on their first tournament of the spring, placing 10th at the Kinderlou Forest Challenge in Valdosta, Ga. Schuldt led the way for the Illini, placing in a tie for 17th after carding a 54-hole total of 229 that included a two-under par 71 in the final round.

For coverage of the Illinois women's golf team at the JMU Eagle Landing 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.