April 17, 2011
COLUMBUS, Ohio -
The Illinois (950) women’s golf team concluded its regular season on Sunday, placing seventh out of 12 teams with challenging weather conditions at the Lady Buckeye Invitational. The event, held at the par-72, 6,228-yard Ohio State University Scarlet Golf Course, saw steady winds of 25 to 30 mph with gusts up to 40mph. Illinois tallied a final round 33-over par 321 and finished only four strokes off of fifth place. No. 22 Michigan State (918) took home the team title, winning the event by 17 strokes over runner-up No. 34 Kent State (935). Wisconsin (939), No. 31 Ohio State (941), and No. 39 Northwestern (946) round out the top five, while Caroline Powers (226) of Michigan State took home medalist honors.
“Today was had some pretty challenging weather conditions,” head coach Renee Slone said. “It got very challenging as the day progressed and the wind picked up, which unfortunately that made it pretty tough to gain much ground on anybody. We just had too many big numbers today. We had three scores that were solid, and then we just needed one more solid score and we could have passed a couple of those teams.”
Junior Samantha Sloan (235) led the Orange and Blue individually, jumping six spots after day one to finish in a tie for 13th at 19-over par after a final round 6-over par 78. Junior Katelin Dilger (238) finished with a third round eight-over par 80 to place in a tie for 17th at 22-over par. Freshman Ember Schuldt (239) carded a final round six-over par 78 and finished in a tie for 21st at 23-over par. Junior Nora Lucas (240) tallied a third round 85 to place in a tie for 26th at 24-over par. Rounding out the Illini were senior Raquel Hopton (246), who placed in a tie for 42nd at 30-over par after carding an 86 in the final round, and junior Hailey Koschmann, with a final round 85 and finished in a tie for 58th and 35-over par.
“We’ll work on a couple of things in the next few days,” Slone said. “We’ll then head up to Lake Shore for Big Ten’s and get ready to go. We certainly didn’t play good by any means in Columbus and yet we were right there,” Slone said. “If we can put together some solid rounds, we’re going to be in excellent position.”
With the conclusion of the Lady Buckeye Invitational, Illinois finishes its regular season and will next travel to Glencoe, Ill., for the Big Ten Championships, hosted by Northwestern at the Lake Shore Country Club. The 72-hole event will begin on Friday, April 22 and conclude on Sunday, April 24. The 2011 Big Ten Championships will be the final time the tournament will be held at a campus site, as the French Lick Resort in Indiana will begin hosting the Big Ten Men’s and Women’s Championships in 2012.
7 ILLINOIS 312-317-321 = 950 (+86)
T13 Samantha Sloan 78-79-78 = 235 (+19)
T17 Katelin Dilger 76-82-80 = 238 (+22)
T21 Ember Schuldt 80-81-78 = 239 (+23)
T26 Nora Lucas 79-76-85 = 240 (+24)
T42 Raquel Hopton 79-81-86 = 246 (+30)
T58 Hailey Koschmann 79-87-85 = 251 (+35)
