Hoosiers try for 8th top-10 finish of season in S.C.

The IU women’s golf team will continue its season today at the Briar’s Creek Invitational in John’s Island, S.C. The Hoosiers are coming off a sixth-place finish at the Mountain View Collegiate from March 15-16, its seventh top-10 finish in eight events this season.

This will be the first time the course has hosted the event, with the College of Charleston tabbed as the host school. The tournament looks to be diverse and competitive as it contains 18 schools from all over America. IU Coach Clint Wallman said he thinks it will be a good challenge for his team.

“This tournament has some marquee teams, highlighted by Wisconsin, Penn State, Notre Dame and Campbell University,”  Wallman said.

IU is sending a strong contingent of players as well.

Senior Rosie Davies, who was the top finisher for IU at the Mountain View Collegiate, tying for 14th in the field, will lead the Hoosiers.

Graduate student Kristen Schelling will play in the No. 2 spot for IU. She is coming off a week in Arizona where she carded her season-best score of 69 in the final round.

Sophomore Elizabeth Tong will be put into the third spot for IU, and has a good reason to look forward to this week; she carded a hole-in-one last week in Arizona.

Senior Kate Coons and freshman Marissa DeCola will round out the starting five for IU. The experience of this group should prove vital as they come down the home stretch of their spring schedule, Wallman said.

“We have a great opportunity here and we are really sitting in a good spot,” Wallman said. “The rest of our schedule looks great for us, not only as far as competing against other teams goes, but also just playing great golf courses in general should be a really good test for us.”

After this week’s tournament in South Carolina, the Hoosiers have a few weeks off from competitive action before getting to host the Indiana Invitational in Bloomington from April 13-14.

After hosting the tournament, the Hoosiers will get one final tune-up for the Big Ten tournament, when they travel to Columbus, Ohio, to compete in the Lady Buckeye Invitational. Wallman said the field for that tourney is traditionally one of the strongest they will face all year.

This week in South Carolina, however, the 54-hole tournament begins with a shotgun start at 9:15 a.m. Monday, followed by a final 18-hole round at 9 a.m. Tuesday.