April 21, 2006
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern returns to action this weekend, April 22-23, at the Lady Buckeye Invitational. Ohio State is hosting the event at the Golf Club of Dublin in Dublin, Ohio.
The Lady Buckeye Invitational marks the final regular-season tournament for NU. The 'Cats will next compete at the Big Ten Championships in Bloomington, Ind., April 28-30.
The 14-team field at the Lady Buckeye Invitational features six teams ranked in the top 25 of the Golfweek/Sagarin Ratings. Nine of the 11 Big Ten schools will be competing. The field is comprised of: Auburn, Florida, Georgia State, Illinois, Indiana, Kent State, LSU, Michigan State, Minnesota, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue and Wisconsin.
Auburn is the highest ranked squad at No. 4. Purdue is top-rated Big Ten team in the event, entering with a No. 7 ranking.
NU, ranked 46th in the Golfweek/Sagarin index, is led by junior Alice Kim (Los Angeles, Calif./Brentwood) and freshman Jennifer Hong (Windermere, Fla./The First Academy). Having each played 432 holes of golf this year, Hong has taken just two more shots than Kim. Kim leads the team with a stroke average of 75.13, and Hong is second with a 75.21 mark.
Sophomores Brittany Johnston (Akron, Ohio/Walsh Jesuit) and Katie Trachok (Pittsburgh, Pa./Upper St. Clair), and junior Heather Scholten (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian) complete NU's lineup this weekend.
After playing several tournaments on desert golf courses, NU will see a sharp contrast at the Golf Club of Dublin. The 'Cats may actually feel like they are in Dublin, Ireland rather than Dublin, Ohio. The course is a links-style layout that includes 1,800 feet of hand-stacked stone walls from the Irish countryside. Trouble is not hard to find as there are over 70 hand-stacked sod wall bunkers and water comes into play on 17 holes. The Golf Club of Dublin is a par-72 layout that measures 6,177 yards.
The 54-hole Lady Buckeye Invitational begins Saturday with 36 holes. The final round is scheduled for Sunday.
The event is normally played on the OSU Scarlet Course; however, due to construction on the course in preparation for the 2006 NCAA Women's Golf Championships (May 23-26), this year's event is being played at the Golf Club of Dublin.