CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The No. 25 Illinois women's golf team will be on the hunt for a Big Ten title this weekend as the Illini travel to Pittsburgh, Pa., for the 2022 Big Ten Women's Golf Championships on April 22-24.
THE SETTING
The Big Ten Championships moves to the Fox Chapel Golf Club in Pittsburgh, Pa., for the 2022 edition of the tournament and will set up as a par 71 and will play 6,045 yards.
Fox Chapel Golf Club is the premier family club in Pittsburgh and one of the finest in the nation. The restoration of the Seth Raynor 18-Hole golf course was completed in 2020. The restoration included building 97 new bunkers to shapes as seen on the original 1923 course; sand lines, mowing lines, green shapes, fairway widths were restored to Mr. Raynor's original design; signature greens were restored; 12 new forward tees added; several back tees were pushed further back to lengthen the course. The golf course is consistently ranked among the Top 100 Best Classic Courses in by Golfweek Magazine, Top 10 Courses in Pennsylvania by LINKSmagazine, Golfweek's Best 2020 Private Courses State by State, The Best Golf Courses in Pennsylvania by Golf Digest, The Top 10 Seth Raynor Courses by LINKSmagazine.com, and in 'The 100 Most Prestigious Golf Clubs in the world' by Links Magazine. The course offers a challenging layout and its distinctive elevated, multi-tiered greens require golfers of all levels to play unique and imaginative shots.
TOURNAMENT FORMAT
There will be 14 teams competing in the 54-hole tournament with 18 holes contested on each day of competition.
Friday and Saturday tee times will be beginning at 7:30 a.m. CT off of holes one and 10, with Sunday's beginning at 7 a.m. CT.
All six Illini will be starting off on hole one, with freshman Alise Knudson kicking things off on Friday at 9:18 a.m. CT. Senior Crystal Wang is the last Illini to tee off at 10:03 a.m. CT. The Illini will be paired with Michigan and Michigan State in Friday's opening round.
THE FIELD
All 14 schools from the Big Ten Conference will be competing at the Championship, including Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, Rutgers and Wisconsin.
Only Michigan (18) ranks higher than the Illini (26) in the latest Golfstat team rankings, followed by the Michigan State (34), Northwestern (36), Purdue (44), Ohio State (55), Maryland (63), Nebraska (70), Wisconsin (92), Penn State (93), Minnesota (97), Rutgers (118), Iowa (133) and Indiana (147).
The Illini were also ranked in the latest Mizuno Women's Golf Coaches Association (WGCA) Coaches Poll on April 15, coming in at No. 25, while the Wolverines also appeared in the poll at No. 19.
FIGHTING ILLINI LINEUP
No. 1: Crystal Wang
No. 2: Kornkamol Sukaree
No. 3: Lexanne Halama
No. 4: Isabel Sy
No. 5: Siyan Chen
No. 6: Alise Knudson
LIVE SCORING
Live scoring for the Big Ten Championships will be available on Golfstat.com. A recap and results will be posted on FightingIllini.com following each day of play.
ILLINI AT THE BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIPS
This is the 40th edition of the Big Ten Conference Women's Golf Championships, with the Illini coming off of a ninth-place finish in 2021 with a 31-over par tournament total of 895 at TPC River's Bend on April 23-25. Former standout Tristyn Nowlin led the way individually for the Illini, tying for 22nd with a five-over 221 for the 54-hole event.
The Illini will be looking for its first Big Ten title and have previously registered six top-three finishes in the Championships history, including back-to-back runner-up finishes in 2018 and 2019 and four-straight third place finishes from 1992-95.
ILLINOIS ALL-TIME BIG TEN MEDALISTS
1975-76 Becky Beach
1990-91 Renee Heiken
1991-92 Becky Biehl
1992-93 Renee Heiken
LAST TIME OUT
Illinois wrapped up its 2021-22 regular season last weekend, earning a third-place finish at the Lady Buckeye Invitational with 49-over par tournament total of 913 at the par 72, 6,319-yard Ohio State Golf Club Scarlet Course. It is the second-straight top-five finish for the Illini and the sixth top-five finish of the season.
Individually, senior Crystal Wang posted her third top-five of the season as she tied for fifth with a six-over par tournament total of 222 after carding a final round score of 77 (+5). Along with Wang, the Orange and Blue had three Illini in the top-15 as senior Kornkamol Sukaree finished in a tie for ninth with an 11-over par total of 227 and sophomore Isabel Sy had her third-straight top-15 finish as she tied for 12th with a 54-hole total of 229 (+13).
UP NEXT
Following the conclusion of the Big Ten Championships, the Illini next awaits their postseason fate until the NCAA Championships selection announcement on Wednesday (April 27) at 3 p.m. CT on the Golf Channel. The NCAA Regionals are set for May 9-11.
For more Fighting Illini women's golf news, stay tuned to FightingIllini.com and follow @IlliniWGolf on social media: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook.
