KEVIN JENISON
GoSycamores.com
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – The Indiana State women's golf team returns to Harborside International in Chicago next week to defend their 2012 championship of the Chicago State Invitational. Competing teams will have a practice round on Sunday with the first of two 18-hole rounds scheduled to start at 8:00 a.m. Monday. The final round will start at 8:00 a.m. on Tuesday. Competition will be held on the 5,914 yard, par-72 Starboard Course at Harborside International.
The Sycamores will have six players in the competition including McCall Christopher, Amanda Smith, Marissa Uradomo, Megan Berube, Erinn Sutton, and Gina Della Camera.
“We are looking to defend our title with two new players that have not seen the course before,” Greg Towne, Indiana State women's golf coach, said. “Harborside is a fun place to play with a great atmosphere around the 18th hole where lots of people can watch the difficult finish.”
Indiana State won the inaugural Chicago State Invitational by taking control on the second day to win by our shots.
“The 18th was a key hole last year for us,” Towne said. “It is a difficult driving hole where most players lay up on the par 5. We hit drivers and had some opportunities to challenge the green or at least hit a shorter club in for the third. In the end it made the difference.”
A bigger field awaits the Sycamores this year and a little different weather conditions. Competing in the field with Indiana State and Chicago State will be Creighton, Texas-Pan American, Detroit, Dayton, IPFW, Eastern Illinois, Loyola, Northern Illinois, Green Bay, Cleveland State, and Illinois-Chicago. St. Xavier University is sending three players.
“This year it appears we will have cooler weather and different winds each day so that will be the challenge for the girls,” Towne said. “Chicago State is just coming off a nice win and we get our first look at Loyola, our newest conference addition. They just got a new coach who is very good and I look for them to build a good program.”
Two of the Sycamores who led Indiana State to the team title have graduated including Emily Dixon who had a chance to win medalist honors on the final day and finished tied for second. Also gone is Christina Beyerl. Christopher, Smith, Sutton and Della Camera competed on the Starboard Course last year and that experience may prove valuable. Uradomo and Berube are two talented freshmen who will have their first look at Chicago's links style course but have played on similar courses in similar conditions in Hawaii and Florida, respectively.
LAST TIME AT THE COUGAR CLASSIC
Indiana earned their first tournament championship since the 2009-2010 season with a balanced team effort on the final day of competition as they captured the title of the inaugural Chicago State University Cougar Classic in 2012 with a four shot victory over IUPUI and Valparaiso.
Emily Dixon had a career best finish as she shot 74-77 in the two rounds of the CSU Cougar Classic to finish tied for second with a 151 total. The senior's previous best finish came at the Snowbird Intercollegiate as a freshman where she tied for fourth.
McCall Christopher recorded the fourth top 10 finish of her Indiana State career, backing up her 79 in the opening round with a 77 in the second round for a 156 total and move into a tie for ninth. She started the day tied for 24th. Also making a move today was Christina Beyerl who moved up from a tie for 39th into 23rd with a 79 in the second round of 79 after shooting 82 in the first round.
Gina Della Camera went 80-84 in the two rounds to finish with a 164 total and tied for 30th while Amanda Smith was 82-83 in her two rounds for a 165 total and tied for 36th. Also playing was Erinn Sutton who was 80-85 in her two rounds for a 165 total and tied for 36th while Andrea Frankiewicz went 88-84 for a 172 total and a tie for 65th.
THE COURSE
Harborside International Golf Center, home to both the Port & Starboard Courses, has been Chicago's home for golf since 1995. Located only 16 minutes from Chicago's Loop, Harborside offers the premier golf experience in the Chicagoland area. As the only facility with two of Golfweek's “Best Courses You Can Play in Illinois” and the home to the most expansive driving range and practice facility in Northern Illinois, Harborside delivers the best that Chicago has to offer in golf.
Harborside International's two exceptional courses, Port & Starboard, were designed by renowned architect Dick Nugent to bring the great tradition of links golf to Chicago. Two time Masters Champion Ben Crenshaw, during the Champions Tour stop in 2002, compared Harborside to Muirfield in Scotland, the site of 15 Open Championships won by the likes of Els, Faldo, Watson, Nicklaus, Player, Hagen and Vardon.
Harborside's Port Course, which opened for play in 1995, immediately garnered national attention and has since been acclaimed as Chicago's top public course. This challenging links course was designed by Dick Nugent in the true links tradition of windswept, Scottish, Irish and English seaside courses. While it may seem like you are playing a course built for The Open Championship, the spectacular views of Chicago's iconic skyline will remind you how close you are to home.
The fantastic finishing holes on the Port Course include the famed par 3 #15 "Anchor Hole" immediately followed by three holes bordering the harbor waters of Lake Calumet.
In 1996, Harborside International was immediately transformed from a Chicago favorite to one of the top public golf facilities in the country with the addition of the Starboard Course. While providing a similar links golf experience to its sister Port Course, the Starboard Course stands alone as a unique blend of exciting and challenging links holes.
Starboard's fantastic finish is highlighted by its signature par 3 #17 "Buccaneers Cove." A middle iron is needed to carry Lake Calumet, which looms from tee to green and up the right side to a devilishly angled green. Three deep bunkers on the left offer no bailout option and add even more drama to this memorable hole typical of the Starboard Course.
