Record-breaking performances has golf world talking

Junior Karen Dennison was named National Female Player of the Week by Golf World magazine after her performance at last week's Wolverine Invitational. Dennison won her first collegiate title in grand fashion by finishing eight strokes ahead of her nearest competitor, fellow Hoosier junior Ambry Bishop.\nDennison shot a 219 (72-74-73), and broke the 18-, 36-, and 54-hole IU individual records for the event. Dennison helped guide the entire Hoosier squad to the team championship in the event. \n"It's pretty impressive considering all of the college golfers out there, there are some really good ones, so I was really honored. Obviously I played well, but I didn't expect anything that big," Dennison said.\nThe Madison, Indiana native caught Coach Sam Carmichael's eye through Bishop's father, Ted. As a high schooler, Dennison did not compete in a large amount of state tournaments, and the lack of exposure made her a relative unknown in the golfing world. During her senior year at Madison High School, Coach Carmichael followed her at the state tournament and offered Dennison a scholarship to play golf for the Hoosiers.\n"Karen is a really hard worker, so working hard certainly gives you an opportunity to be a good player," Carmichael said. "She's also been very good about listening and taking instructions and making some minor changes in her swing and improving her short game, and she's continuously kept working at that and improves each year and I can see that she's even better at it this year. She doesn't have to hit the perfect shot to shoot a good score, she can have an off day and still score well." \nSenior Danah Ford has also been impressed with Dennison and the steady rise of her play that she has shown since joining the team.\n"She came in really strong as a freshman, and she just works really hard. The improvements that she made in the short amount of time Coach had with her is awesome, and it shows that she can be that much better of a player," Ford said.\nAfter finishing last year as the leader in scoring average on the team, Dennison came into this season expecting to be competitive in every tournament she played in.\n"My goal for this year was to win a tournament and to accomplish that in the first tournament is pretty nice. It was real exciting. I knew I could win a tournament, it was just getting everything going right at the same time, and it happened this past weekend," Dennison said.\nDuring the summer, Karen was one of five girls who competed for Team USA at the 2002 World University Golf Championships in Taipei, Taiwan. She also won the 4th Annual Indiana Match Play Championship over the summer, so her current success should come as no surprise.\n"I want to be able to win more tournaments. I have higher expectations, I always want to be in the top ten, but now that I've won one, I'm going in there knowing I have a chance for the title each time," Dennison said.