CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Illinois Women's Golf is headed south to kick off the 2016 spring campaign with the eighth annual Illinois Challenge. The Fighting Illini and Illinois State Redbirds will square off in a match-play competition featuring both singles and four-ball play. Action is slated to begin Saturday, Feb. 13 at 7 a.m. CT in Venice, Florida.

The Fighting Illini have been victorious in each of the previous seven meetings since the event's inception during the 2008-09 campaign. Last season, Illinois was the winner of an 8-4 decision at the Venice Golf and Country Club. The Orange and Blue grabbed three-and-a-half of the four possible points from four-ball play and went on to win four of the eight individual matchups and finished all square in another.

Upon concluding the Illinois Challenge, the Illini will also get nine more holes in on Sunday morning at the Tiburon Golf Course in Naples, Florida, before returning to Champaign-Urbana.

UI will have a quick turnaround on campus, competing in the Westbrook Spring Invitational the next weekend in Peoria, Arizona. The two-day, 54-hole competition is hosted by the University of Wisconsin and will feature a 15-team field.

Stay tuned to FIGHTINGILLINI.com for all the latest information on Fighting Illini Women's Golf as the team begins the spring season. Follow the Orange and Blue on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram for even more coverage.