NEWTON, Kan. -- The Indiana State women's golf team will debut a brand new lineup as they travel to the state of Kansas from April 15-17 for the annual Missouri Valley Conference Championship. This year's league championship will be held at the Sand Creek Station Golf Club, which is a par-72, 6,103-yard layout and the event is hosted by Missouri State.
The Sycamores will hit the links with the lineup of
Thilda Staubo,
Sophie Benetti,
Sierra Hargens,
Kayla Ryan and
Alex Jennings. Staubo, Benetti, Hargens and Jennings have all appeared in the championship before but this will mark the first appearance for Ryan with enters with five rounds played and an 80.8 stroke average. Additionally, Jennings is returning near her hometown of Wichita for the event.
Indiana State traveled to South Carolina earlier in the fall but returned home to battle the less than optimal conditions that of the Midwest over the past month. ISU responded with a stellar performance at the WG Fort Wayne Classic in early April despite the windy, rainy and sometimes snowy conditions. The Sycamores thrived with a two-day total of 590 which is the best two-day score in the history of the program.
Then last week, the Sycamores briefly led after the opening round of the ISU Spring Invitational which was played in conditions that more resembled winter than spring. Following a player disqualification, Indiana State found themselves down five strokes instead of leading by five. Through nine holes of play and under-par rounds by Staubo and Benetti, the Sycamores charged ahead to retake their tournament lead. The comeback was thrwarted in the final nine holes as the Sycamores did not win their home tournament for the first time in five tries and Loyola picked up the victory.
"The team has done a great job preparing despite the less than ideal spring weather," head coach Greg Towne said. "What we need to do is perform outside our comfort zone. We have trained for that but now we have to go to another level with the wind and temps expected in Wichita. This is the first time with this lineup and it was extremely competitive this year earning a playing spot. I have a good feeling about our ball striking but in the end it will come down to who wants to play with grit."
In the pre championship poll released this morning by the league office, the Sycamores are picked to finish seventh at this week's event. ISU garnered 49 points in the voting which is ahead of Drake (32), Valparaiso (17) and Evansville (16). The Sycamores were nipped in the voting by Illinois State for sixth (50) and Loyola (53). Bradley is the pre tournament favorite with 93 points while Missouri State is second at 88. Northern Iowa is third with 79 and Southern Illinois is fourth at 73.
The GolfStat official league rankings have the Sycamores fifth heading into the tournament with a season long stroke average of 310.25. Staubo ranks ninth in the league with a 76.37 average entering the competition. Benetti and Hargens have each also rising into the league's Top 20 over the past two weeks as Benetti is 15th with a 77.40 average and Hargens ranks 18th with a 77.65 mark.
Sand Creek Station plays on the town's railroad history, and many holes are, as they say in Scotland, "hard by the cinders," continuing a century's old tradition of golf bordering railways. The course has also recreated the famous Road Hole green on our 16th hole, which once sat adjacent to a railway. Another replicates the famous "Redan" from North Berwick, Scotland. Other holes have characteristics of early American holes, which also fronted railways at one time. The 12th hole for example, is similar to the fourth at the National Golf Links of America, one of our early classics. The ninth features a small platform green; typical of early American courses while the green on the par 5 fourth has some wild contours, seldom built these days. Despite playing on these old style characteristics, the course is thoroughly modern in other ways. The 10th is a long par 5 requiring negotiation of water on all three shots. The 18th is a long par 4 requiring a tee shot to a narrow fairway between flanking fairway bunkers. On the front nine, the long sixth may be the toughest hole.
The event begins on Sunday, April 15 with the opening round at 1:30 pm (ET). Sunday's action will be a shotgun start. Monday's second round begins at 11:30 a.m. (ET) with tee times off holes No. 1 and No. 10 while Tuesday's final round will begin at 9:30 a.m. (ET) with tee times off holes No. 1 and No. 10. Live scoring will be available throughout the tournament on GolfStat.com and GoSycamores.com.
