Women's golf finishes 11th at Mary Fossum Invitational

Of four Big Ten schools that competed in the Mary Fossum Invitational, IU finished last. The women’s golf team finished 11th overall out of 15 teams in East Lansing, Mich., this weekend.

“Obviously we didn’t come here to come in 11th place,” sophomore Marissa DeCola said after the event.

Michigan State, the team playing host to the Invitational, won the tournament with 28-over par score of 892. IU finished 47 strokes behind them.

“Everybody is disappointed with the finish because everybody knows we’re capable of doing much better,” IU Coach Clint Wallman said.“But it’s not one of those things that’s going to define us or anything. It is what it is.”

The 54-hole contest was IU’s second tournament of the year. The Hoosiers played 36 holes Saturday, finishing up with the final 18 on Sunday.

Freshman Ana Sanjuan led the Hoosiers in total scoring.  She was 13-over par for her three rounds of action. She tied for 21st overall of 93 competitors.

“She has done really, really remarkable,” Wallman said. “Obviously she’s a talented player.”

The Spain native was two-over par in her first collegiate event last weekend and has only been in the country for a few weeks.

“I was really impressed because I knew she was playing with really good players,” junior Elizabeth Tong said. “So I wasn’t surprised that she played well. It’s really impressive as a freshman.”

Five Hoosiers participated in the tournament. Tong had the lowest single round of the tournament for IU, two over-par 74.

Her three rounds were 78, 74 and 78. Wallman said she was “average” last weekend, and he said she still doesn’t think she has unleashed her full potential.

“I think Elizabeth had, again, an average tournament,” Wallman said. “(Saturday) she had two bad holes out of 36, which cost her. (Sunday) she had one bad hole, which cost her.”

The junior started Sunday in 22nd place but finished 24th out of all competitors. She attributes some of her struggles to slow play in front of her.

“I think it was the 11th or 12th hole and then the waiting got to me,” Tong said. “I just didn’t play as well after that.”

DeCola had the highest round of any Hoosier. Her opening round of a 13-over par 85 set her back, but her final two rounds of 78 and 77 righted the ship.

“It was definitely rough,” DeCola chuckled. “Sometimes you’re going to have those tournaments where you get a lot of bad breaks, and I had my fair share this weekend.”

IU will fly to Colorado next week to participate in the Golfweek Conference Challenge. The event starts Monday, Sept. 23, and will last three days.

Follow reporter Evan Hoopfer on Twitter @EvanHoopfer.