Indiana University Athletics
Lady Northern Preview
9/24/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
Tournament Information
The Indiana University women's golf team will compete in its second tournament of the fall at the 2003 Lady Northern Invitational. Ohio State will host the event Sept. 27-28 and it will be held on The Ohio State University Scarlet Golf Course, (par 72 and a yardage of 6,037 yards).
The 54-hole event will field 14 teams, including all 11 teams from the Big Ten: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, Wisconsin, Kent State, Oklahoma and Texas.
Ohio State won the Big Ten Championship in 2003 and Michigan State won the Mary Fossum last weekend.
Kent State is the defending Lady Northern champion, with a 895 in 2002.
The tournament begins Saturday at 8:30 a.m. EDT, followed immediately by the second round. The final round will begin Sunday at 8:30 a.m. All rounds will be a shotgun start.
The Starting Six
Indiana's six players to compete at the Lady Northern Invitational will be seniors Ambry Bishop, Karen Dennison and Danah Ford, junior Bethany Brunner and sophomores Lissa Putnam and Molly Redfearn.
Tournament Format
Scoring for the Lady Northern Invitational will be six players with the low four scores from each round counting toward the team overall total.
Tournament Results
Live updates and scoring will be available on www.golfstat.com
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 Danah Allen at (812) 856-0215 or through e-mail at allendm@indiana.edu.
"Quoting" the Coach
Indiana Coach Sam Carmichael: "After last weekend, everyone on the team has different areas of their game that they need to work on.We are trying to address those areas going into the Lady Northern.
Golf is a game that you do not always play well. Each player needs to focus on playing to their potential. If the team can do that, we will do okay."
Hoosiers to Watch
Indiana's starting six have considerable experience on this golf course. Five of the six played in the Lady Buckeye last season, and combined, they have played 27 rounds.
Senior Karen Dennison finished tied for 24th at the Mary Fossum. She had rounds of 75-78-83-235.
In the previous three Lady Buckeye Invite's, She has finished tied for 10th, 14th and 16th, never shooting higher than a 79 in a round.
Senior Danah Ford was the top finisher for the Hoosiers with a 75-77-80-232, in a tie for 15th in the Mary Fossum Invitational.
Last season, she finished in a tie for seventh in the Lady Buckeye Invite with rounds of 77-71-78-226. In the previous two season she finished in a tie for ninth and a tie for 33rd.
Fellow classmate Ambry Bishop, finished in a tie for 59 after rounds of 86-81-80-247 in the Mary Fossum Invitational.
Last season at the Lady Buckeye, she finished 15th with a 232 (76-79-77).
Junior Bethany Brunner will be making her third appearance in the starting lineup. At the Mary Fossum Invitational, she finished tied for 56th with a 246.
Her first appearance in the lineup came last season when she finished 49th at the Lady Buckeye Invite with a 250.
Sophomore Lissa Putnam will be making her Hoosier debut this weekend. She joins the team after transfering from Purdue.
Sophomore Molly Redfearn finished 37th at the mary Fossum.
Last year, she finished tied for 41st at the Lady Buckeye, after shooting 82-83-82-247.
Dennison Comes Off an Impressive Summer
2003 All-American and Academic All-American Karen Dennison had an active summer.
The Madison, Ind., native accepted a sponsor's exemption to compete in the LPGA Giant Eagle Classic at Squaw Creek Country Club in Vienna, Ohio. She finished with a 153 (75-78) to miss the cut by eight strokes.
Dennison went on to win her first IWGA State Amateur with a 215 (70-71-74).
Teammates Danah Ford, Ambry Bishop and Mary Lidester also participated in the IWGA State Amateur. Ford finished five strokes behind in second with a 220 (76-74-70). While Bishop finished in13th with a 235 (82-76-77) and Lidester finished ninth in the second flight with a 257 (86-86-85).
Bishop Earns Well-Deserved Success
Junior Ambry Bishop had quite the productive offseason this past summer.
The Franklin, Ind., native won the Women's Golf Association Match Play Championship.
Bishop also finished 13th at the IWGA State Amateur with a 235 (82-76-77).
Last season, Bishop improved her stroke average by two points from the previous season to 78.44. Her best finished was second in the Wolverine Invitational, the Hoosiers first tournament of the fall last season.
Hoosier Hopefuls
This year's Indiana squad will need consistent play not only out of the top four positions, but perhaps in the key No. 5 and No. 6 positions.
Several Hoosiers to watch for are senior Mary Lidester, juniors Bethany Brunner and Aylse Tankanow, sophomores Katie Carlson and Lissa Putnam and freshman Anne Gorman.
Brunner qualified for the season-opening Mary Fossum Invitational and Lady Northern Invitational, however senior Mary Lidester will challenge Brunner for the final traveling spot.
Over the summer, Brunner was a quarterfinalist at the State Match Play Championships and the WGAMUI Indianapolis Women's City. At the Women's Western Golf Associate, she was defeated after two matches in the second flight. Brunner also finished tied for 20th at the Indiana State Open
Lidester looks to enter the season with a higher level consistency after she struggled at times last season. She split tournament time with Molly Redfearn last year and will look to continue to improve her game, as competition for traveling spots on the Hoosier squad is sure to heat up.
Tankanow and Carlson will add depth for the Hoosiers and both look to move into the lineup.
Putnam played well in qualifying, and will be part of the team traveling to the Lady Northern.
Putnam played one year at Purdue before transferring last year to Indiana. She was raised in Bloomington and won her fifth Bloomington City Championship this summer.
During the summer, Gorman participated at the Western Women's Golf Association, where she shot 84-84, only to lose in the 19th hole of the first match-play round. She also competed at the Florida Junior Open, where she finished the 54-hole event with a total of 246 (79-89-78).
