April 26, 2006
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern's 47th-ranked women's golf team will try to solidify its spot in the NCAA regional rankings with a solid showing at this weekend's 2006 Big Ten Women's Golf Championships in Bloomington, Ind.
The 72-hole tournament will be held at the Indiana University Golf Course from April 28-30. All 11 Big Ten teams will participate, with Ohio State seeking its fifth straight conference championship. The Buckeyes became the first team in conference history to win four straight with their victory last season.
Purdue nevertheless walks into the championships as the highest-ranked Big Ten squad. No. 22 Ohio State, No. 27 Michigan State and No. 47 Northwestern join the seventh-ranked Boilermakers in Golfweek's Top 50.
Northwestern finds itself poised to compete for a conference title as one of the top five teams.
With the Regional Championships on the horizon, though, head coach Chris Regenberg said the team remains focused on the Big Ten tournament.
"I think the team feels more pressure to have a great Big Ten performance than being uptight about Regionals," she said.
The tournament spans three days. The teams will play 36 holes on Friday starting at 8 a.m., 18 on Saturday starting at 9 a.m., and 18 again on Sunday starting at 8 a.m. For Northwestern, a team without the championship history of Ohio State or the top-10 ranking of Purdue, it is a chance to fly under the radar, something they've had to do all year.
"Our performance has been inconsistent throughout the year but good enough to put us in a good spot going into Regionals and Big Ten competition," said Regenberg.
Though success was sporadic throughout the year, the team found a groove during a western swing through Arizona. They placed first at the Rio Verde Collegiate in Rio Verde, Ariz., in early March and placed third in the Mountain View Collegiate in Tucson, Ariz., near the end of the month.
Junior Alice Kim (Los Angeles, Calif./Brentwood) earned Big Ten Golfer of the Week honors twice -- on February 23 and March 29. She leads the team with a stroke average of 74.93.
For Northwestern to challenge the conference powers in Indiana, though, Regenberg insists she'll need top performances from her stars.
"We need our number-one and number-two players to score low numbers," she said. "The team has depth but we need our front runners to show up with their A-game."
In 2006, Northwestern worked its way into the upper echelon of the conference. On the last weekend of April in Indiana, they'll have a chance to prove they belong.
To follow the tournament live, visit Big Ten Women's Golf Championships. Other tournament information can be found at Big Ten Women's Golf and Indiana Big Ten Championships Site.