KEVIN JENISON

GoSycamores.com

TERRE HAUTE, Ind.  – The Indiana State women's golf team will play their fourth tournament of the Fall season next week as they compete in the Payne Stewart Memorial hosted by Missouri State University. The 54-hole competition on the 6,104 yard, par-72, Rivercut Golf Course in Springfield, Mo., will begin with 36-holes on Monday (Oct. 15) and conclude with 18-holes on Tuesday (Oct. 16). Both days will begin with a shotgun start at 9:30 a.m. (ET).

“We did not do well at Butler last week partly because we had limited practice before the tournament due to weather conditions,” Greg Towne, Indiana State women's golf coach, said. “That hurt our short game.  But we were able to get back on the course this week and had a couple of good sessions in working around the green.”

Leading the way for Indiana State will be seniors Emily Dixon and Christina Beyerl with junior McCall Christopher and sophomores Amanda Smith and Gina Della Camera also in the team competition. Towne expects to take one other member of the team who will be determined in a playoff Friday.

“The girls had a good week of practice and I expect that will translate to good scores next week,” Towne said.

Rivercut is the top-ranked municipal course in the state of Missouri according to Golf Digest. The course has hosted numerous competitive events on the state level including the 2011 Missouri Senior Amateur.

Five of the 10 Missouri Valley Conference schools will be competing including the Sycamores, Missouri State, Creighton, Drake, and Wichita State. Also in the 15-team field are Arkansas-Little Rock, Drury, Nebraska, Nebraska-Omaha, Oklahoma City, Oral Roberts, Rockhurst, South Dakota, Missouri-Kansas City, and Valparaiso.

“Anytime you can compete against this many conference schools during the fall season is an opportunity you cannot pass,” Towne said. “We are all working toward the conference championship next spring and this is a good time to gauge how we stand against them.”

This is the third straight year that Indiana State has competed in the Payne Stewart Memorial with the Sycamores placing 15th in 2010 and finishing fourth in the team standings last year. Christopher finished regulation play of the 2011 tournament tied first with Missouri State's Hermine Greyling and Creighton's Calesta Gassman after each shot a 73 in the final round to finish regulation at 225. Greyling won medalist honors in a playoff. Dixon also had a top 20 finish as she tied for 13th with a 232 total.