Indiana University Athletics
IU Opens Spring in Florida
2/21/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
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• This event was a late entry on the schedule last year, and marked an early start to the Spring. Best IU Team 18 |
The Indiana University women's golf team will open its spring season at the Central District Invitational. The tournament will be held Monday-Tuesday, Feb. 24-25, in Parrish, Fla.
The course will be setup at a par 72 and a yardage of 6,113 yards.
Monday will consist of the first 36 holes at the River Wilderness Golf & Country Club, beginning with an 8:00 a.m. shotgun start. Tuesday's final 18 holes will also begin with an 8:00 am. shotgun start.
The 54-hole event will consist of 15 teams: Baylor, Illinois, INDIANA, Iowa State, Kansas State, Kent, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Northwestern, Ohio State, Texas A&M, Texas Tech.
Hoosiers in the Lineup
Indiana's five players competing at the Central District Invitational will be senior Cara Stuckey and juniors Ambry Bishop, Karen Dennison, Danah Ford and Mary Lidester
Tournament Format
Scoring for the Central District Invitational will be five players with the low four scores counting in each round.
Tournament Results
Complete tournament results will be made available on the web at IUHOOSIERS.com following the event. Results can be viewed and printed out by choosing the Women's Golf link from the main menu. For more information, contact Jeff Smith at (812) 855-6209 or through e-mail at jepsmith@indiana.edu.
"Quoting" the Coach
Indiana Coach Sam Carmichael: "The field is going to be really strong for this tournament and we haven't seen a lot of them. They try to invite the top teams in the district here and it really makes the solid field.
"The golf course is a good track, but tight. It shouldn't be a problem for us, but there are some good length holes out there. The par threes are the course's strength. If the wind blows, like it often does in Florida, it will certainly make the course more difficult.
"Our swings have been looking good over the winter. We have been working primarily on fundamentals. Everyone is just excited to get outside and back in the swing of things."
Hoosiers to Watch
Junior Karen Dennison is ranked No. 6 in the nation according to Golfweek/Sagarin ratings. Dennison, an All-America candidate, turned in a fall season winning three of her four tournaments. She finished second in the other.
Junior Danah Ford wasn't going to let Dennison walk away with victory at the Mission Inn Classic without a challenge. Ford recorded a second-place finish with a 150, to post her career-best finish.
Senior Cara Stuckey is also coming off her career-best finish as well, as the Terre Haute, Ind., native finished just one stroke back of Ford in third place. The lone senior in the lineup, Stuckey will look to find more consistency in the spring, having only carded rounds of 75 and lower in just four of her 11 rounds last fall.
Hoosiers Rank Among Best
The latest Golfweek/Sagarin ratings that were released Feb. 16, has the Hoosiers ranked 19th in the nation, following their win at the Mission Inn Classic last fall. Indiana is the second highest ranked Big Ten team, behind No. 15 Ohio State.
The Hoosiers though, have the 71st toughest schedule in the country while the Buckeyes and Boilermakers have the 1st.
Looking For Three In A Row
For the first time in the 20-year history of IU golf, a Hoosier could win her third consecutive medalist title this weekend.
Karen Dennison won her final two fall events a the Shootout at the Legends and the Mission Inn Classic. A win at the Central District Invitational, would mark the first time a Hoosier has 3-peat, and the first time since 1986 that IU has won the individual title in three consecutive attempts.
Indiana swept all five of its fall tournaments in 1986. Current LPGA star Michele Redman notched her first collegiate victory at the Illinois State Invitational and was followed by Sarah DeKraay's two wins at the Lady Badger and Lady Northern. Tracy Chapman won the Lady Kat Invite, while Redman concluded the Hoosiers' fall season with a win a the Stanford Invitational.
Mission as Easy as 1, 2, 3
Concluding the fall season, Indiana swept the Mission Inn Classic at Howey-in-the-Hills, Fla., winning the team competition and the first, second and third individual finishes.
IU topped the 17-team field with a 614 (304-310), while Karen Dennison won her third medalist title of the fall with a 149, backed by Danah Ford's 150 and Cara Stuckey with 151.
A Legend-ary Performance
Junior Karen Dennison captured her second individual medalist title at the Shootout at the Legends October 8.
Dennison won with a 4-under-par 212, setting many school records as she played. The Madison, Ind., native set nearly every Hoosier individual record at the event. A list of the records is below:
Record Old Dennison
9-Holes 30+ 30
18-Holes 67 68 (1 shy)
36-Holes 140 138
54-Holes 213 212
Dennison Honored Part I
Last fall, junior Karen Dennison was featured as the FOX-59 TV-Indianapolis College Athlete of the Week. Camera crews were in Bloomington talking to the Madison, Ind., native about her win at the Wolverine Invitational and her trip to the World University Golf Championships in Taiwan this past summer.
After being named with the honor, Dennison proved to critics she was deserving of the award, as she won the Legends Shootout medalist award--her second individual title of the season.
Dennison Honored Part II
On Sept. 28, Golfweek released its Golfweek/Sagarin Collegiate Rankings, which had Indiana junior Karen Dennison ranked the No. 1 golfer in the nation.
Dennison Honored Part III
Karen Dennison was honored by Golf World Magazine in late-September, as the National Female Player of the Week for her first-place performance at the Wolverine Invitational.
Dennison carded a 219 (72-74-73) in Ann Arbor, Mich. en route to her first collegiate victory.
The Madison, Ind. native broke the 18-, 36-, and 54-hole Indiana individual records for the event, as she bettered Erin Carney's 1997 performance.
Dennison was the third Hoosier to win the Wolverine Invitational and her 219 was also a Wolverine tournament record for the low 54-hole score. The previous record was set by Carney in 1997. In addition, Dennison's first round total of 72 tied the Invitational record for single round score.
Hoosier Shy of School Record
Junior Karen Dennison fired a 68 at both the Shootout at the Legends and the Lady Northern Intercollegiate, which is one stroke shy of the school record 67.
Jennifer Gray fired the school's best 18-hole round at the 1998 NCAA Championships. Only two other Hoosiers have fired 68 in school history - Sarah DeKraay in 1986 and Debbie Lee in 1987. Both Hoosiers earned All-America honors during their career - DeKraay in 1985, 1986 and 1987 and Lee in 1990.
A Whole New Career For Ford
Junior Danah Ford re-wrote her personal career-record book last fall.
Ford placed second at the Mission Inn Classic to end the fall season, topping her sixth-place finish at the 2002 Lady Northern. And it was at the Lady Northern Invitational, that the Indianapolis, Ind., native fired a 224 (75-72-77), giving her new 18-, 36-, 54-hole totals. Ford's previous highs were 73 multiple times; 148 and 227 at the 2001 Lady Northern; and a sixth-place finish at the 2002 Lady Northern.
Starting Off Right
Indiana fired a final round 303 to win the Wolverine Invitational with 913 (304-306-303), 15 strokes ahead of second place Michigan (309-310-309-928). The Hoosiers also swept the individual medalist honors as junior Karen Dennison won her first individual title of her career with a 219 (72-74-73). Dennison's classmate, Ambry Bishop, carded a final round 75 to finish eight strokes back of Dennison in second place.
A Streak Worth Breaking
The Hoosiers' team championship at Michigan marked the first title for Indiana since the 2001 Baylor/Iowa Shootout. Last season was the first time since 1987 that Indiana did not win at least one tournament in a season.
Dennison Caps Off Impressive Summer in Taiwan
Karen Dennison had quite the summer leading into her junior season this year.
The Madison, Ind., native competed for Team USA at the 2002 World University Golf Championships in Taipei, Taiwan and was one of the scoring leaders for the squad.
Prior to her overseas competition, Dennison won the 4th Annual Indiana Match Play Championship, defeating teammate Cara Stuckey 3 & 1.
Dennison went on to place fifth with a 217 (72-70-75) in the IWGA State Amateur and finish tied for sixth in the Indiana State Open with 145 (72-73).
Along with teammate Danah Ford, Dennison also was a participant in the WWGA Western Amateur and the North vs. South Championship at Pinehurst.
"Karen is a really good player who makes the effort everyday to become better," said Indiana coach Sam Carmichael. "She has the ability to score and the attitude to post a low number. She has the chance to be an outstanding player."
The Man in Charge
Sam Carmichael, seven-time Big Ten Women's Coach of the Year, is now in his 22nd season as Indiana's women's golf coach. Before Carmichael directed his attention solely to the women's golf program in 1998, he spent nine years as IU's men's golf coach. During his time as the men's coach, Carmichael won Coach of the Year honors twice (1991 and 1998) and the 1991 and 1998 Big Ten titles.
In the fall of 1981, Carmichael assumed the position of head coach for the IU women's team, and he has led the women to seven Big Ten Championships in the last 14 years-1986, 1987, 1990, 1992, 1995, 1996, and 1998-and 11 top-three finishes in 1983, 1984, 1985, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1997, 1999 and 2001. Indiana's seven Big Ten titles rank second to Ohio State's eight championships.
During a 19-year span from 1984-2002, Indiana is the only team in the Big Ten to place among the top three 16 times.
Carmichael and the Hoosiers won their seventh and most recent conference title in 1998 with an all-time championship low score of 1,196.
Carmichael's IU women's teams have earned automatic berths to the NCAA tournament eight times since 1981. The Hoosiers have finished 11th in 1985, 12th in 1986, 13th in 1987, 11th in 1990, 13th in 1992, eighth in 1993, 17th in 1994 and fifth in 1996.
In 1987 he was named Indiana PGA Teacher of the Year and NCAA National Coach of the Year. He also won the NGCA's Gladys Palmer Award in 1994, Indiana Teacher of the Year in 1998, and was named the 1999 Professional of the Year by the Indiana PGA.
Carmichael, a Martinsville, Ind., native, is also an accomplished player. At his alma mater Louisiana State, he participated on the 1960 Southern Intercollegiate and SEC championship teams. Carmichael became the second person in Indiana golf history to win the Indiana Boys State Junior, Indiana State Amateur and Indiana State Open Championships in the same year, when he won the trio of championships in 1960.
