April 15, 2005
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- In its last three tournaments, Northwestern has finished fifth, first and third while strengthening its chances to gain a fifth NCAA postseason invite in the last six years.
This weekend, the Wildcats play in their final regular-season tournament -- the 25th Lady Buckeye Invitational in Columbus, Ohio -- before traveling to Ann Arbor next week for the Big Ten Championships.
"We're playing some good golf right now, but we feel we can play better," says NU coach Chris Regenberg. "We want to maintain that momentum this weekend and be playing at the top of our game by next week."
Senior Ina Kim (Encino, Calif./Harvard-Westlake) has led the surge, leading the Wildcats in NU's last three tournaments. Kim has placed second, seventh and 19th in those three events while lowering her season stroke average to 75.75.
Seven of the 15 teams entered in the Lady Buckeye hail from the Big Ten -- Indiana, Iowa, No. 46 Michigan State, No. 10 Ohio State, Penn State, No. 32 Purdue along with the 42nd-ranked Wildcats. Also in the tourney field are Bowling Green, Eastern Michigan, No. 36 Kent State, Marshall, No. 50 Notre Dame, Ohio, Toledo and Western Michigan.
Since Ohio State hosted the Big Ten Championships last year, the Lady Buckeye Invitational was not held. Ohio State and OSU's Kristen White won the respective team and individual titles in 2003.
The teams will play 36 holes on Saturday followed by 18 on Sunday. Ohio State University's Scarlet Course (6,201 yards, par 72) is the site of this year's invitational.