CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Looking to building on its back-to-back top-five finishes to open the 2021-22 season, the Illinois women's golf team travels to Fayetteville, Arkansas for the Blessings Collegiate Invitational, a three-day event hosted by Arkansas on Monday-Wednesday (October 4-6). A unique event that features both the men's and women's teams from each of the 10 participating schools, the Blessings will be televised with daily coverage from 3-6 p.m. CT on GOLF Channel.
THE SETTING
The second annual Blessings Collegiate Invitational will be held at the Blessings Golf Club, with the course set up for a par 72 and will play 6,556 yards long. The Club is located in Johnson, Arkansas, and is the home to the University of Arkansas Men's and Women's Golf Teams.
The Blessings Golf Club is designed through two distinct landforms – the Clear Creek floodplain and a plateau that rises to 65 feet above the floodplain where it's bisected by a series of ravines. Both the outward and inward nines climb up and down between the two topographies, creating drama and variety on each hole. The course was originally designed by architect Robert Trent Jones, Jr. with a redesign recently completed by noted architect Kyle Phillips.
TOURNAMENT FORMAT
The Blessings Collegiate Invitational is a men's and women's mixed event with 10 men's teams and 10 women's teams competing in a 54-hole tournament with 18 holes on each day on Monday (Oct. 4), Tuesday (Oct. 5) and Wednesday (Oct. 6). All three days will feature tee times between 8:45-10:45 a.m. CT off of hole 1 and hole 10. Official tee times will be published on Golfstat when finalized.Â
THE FIELD
Along with the Illini, the 10-team field consisting of both men's and women's golf teams will include Arizona, Arkansas, Houston, Louisville, North Carolina, Ole Miss, Tennessee, Texas Tech and UCLA. Â
FIGHTING ILLINI LINEUP
No. 1: Kornkamol Sukaree
No. 2: Isabel Sy
No. 3: Siyan Chen
No. 4: Crystal Wang
No. 5: Lexanne Halama
ILLINI AT THE BLESSINGS COLLEGIATE INVITATIONAL
This will be the first time Illinois has played in the Blessings Collegiate Invitational.
GOLF CHANNEL COVERAGE
All three rounds of the Blessings Collegiate Invitational will be broadcast live from 3-6 p.m. CT on GOLF Channel, with re-airs scheduled each evening from 7-10 p.m. CT.
LIVE SCORING
Live scoring for the Blessings Collegiate Invitational will be available on Golfstat.com. A Recap and results will be posted on FightingIllini.com following each day of play.
UP NEXT
The Illini will next host the Illini Women's Invitational at Medinah at the Medinah Country Club on Oct. 11-12 in Medinah, Ill.
For more Fighting Illini women's golf news, stay tuned to FightingIllini.com and follow @IlliniWGolf on social media: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook.
