Indiana University Athletics
Verizon "Mo"Morial Notes (2/24/04)
2/24/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
A shotgun start will begin tournament play on Monday, Feb. 28, at 8 a.m., with each team playing 36 holes on the day. The final round is set for Tuesday, March 1, with a shotgun start at 8 a.m.
The Field
The 16-team field will consist of Big Ten foes Northwestern and Wisconsin. It also features five teams ranked among the top 50 in the country in No. 24 SMU, No. 33 Kent State, No. 43 Baylor, No. 44 Northwestern and No. 49 TCU. Also competing with the Hoosiers will be Illinois State, Kansas, Kansas State, North Carolina, Oregon State, UTEP, Texas Pan American and tournament host Texas A&M.
SMU, Baylor, Kansas State and Texas A&M each competed against Indiana in the spring season-opener, the Central District Classic on Feb. 21-22.
Harris Sets Career-Bests At Central District Classic
True freshman Elaine Harris had the best performance of her young career at the Central District Classic on Feb. 21-22, and was the highlight of the tournament for the Hoosiers. Competing in just her fourth tournament as a collegiate golfer, Harris finished the two-day event with career-bests in 18 holes (73), 36 holes (154) and 54 holes (234), smashing her old 54-hole mark by 14 strokes. She also had her best finish in a tournament, placing in a tie for 46th to top her 60th-place finish at the Shootout at the Legends last October.
"Elaine certainly did not play like a freshman," head coach Clint Wallman said. "She came into this tournament with an incredible belief and attitude that she was going to play well. I think we are going to see some very good things to come in the future from Elaine."
Mayotte Makes Hoosier Debut
Another true freshman, Stephanie Mayotte, earned a right to compete in her first collegiate golf tournament, The Central District Classic. Mayotte, a native of Champaign, Ill, finished tournament play with a 262 (83-88-91) to place in 75th.
Last Time Out
The Indiana women's golf team finished competition in its first event of the spring season, the Central District Classic on Tuesday. The Hoosiers shot a final round of 328 to close the Classic with a team score of 967 (316-323-328) on the 6,009-yard, par 72 River Wilderness Country Club to finish 15th overall.
"It was a good experience for our team to compete in such a competitive field," Indiana head coach Clint Wallman said. "We took away some positives from this tournament. I though our play on par fives was much improved. I also feel like we played much better in this spring opener than the fall opener last September."
Missouri, ranked 13th in the nation and one of 11 ranked teams competing in the tournament, captured the event title with a 15-over 879 (292-295-292). No. 20 Arkansas finished just two strokes back at 881 (296-293-292) with No. 43 Baylor (300-295-297) in third with an 892.
Following the Bears, last year's defending champions, No. 14 LSU (303-296-298/897) finished fourth, while No. 23 Michigan (307-303-289/899) rounded out the top five.
Freshman Elaine Harris was the highlight of the tournament for the Hoosiers. Competing in just her fourth tournament as a collegiate golfer, Harris finished the two-day event with career-bests in 18 holes (73), 36 holes (154) and 54 holes (234), smashing her old 54-hole mark by 14 strokes. She also had her best finish in a tournament, placing in a tie for 46th to top her 60th-place finish at the Shootout at the Legends last October.
he lone senior in the group, Bethany Brunner, completed play just behind Harris in a tie for 54th overall with a 238 (78-79-81). Junior Molly Redfearn, who led the team with an average of 79.08 per round during the fall, carded a 244 (83-80-81) to place in a tie for 68th. Redfearn and Brunner each shot an 81 on the final 18 holes, marking the lowest scores of the afternoon for IU.
Other IU competitors include junior Katie Carlson, who finished with a 251 (82-85-84) to place 72nd, while Freshman Stephanie Mayotte, making her collegiate debut, rounded out the Hoosiers with a 262 (83-88-91) to place in 75th.
Hoosiers Having Career Years
Last fall, several IU golfers came on strong and accomplished new career bests.
In the Shootout at the Legends on Oct. 4-5, junior Katie Carlson shot a career-best round of 78 in the final 18 holes. The Livonia, Mich., native also recorded her career-best 54-hole performance with a 239 (81-80-78), shattering her old mark of 266 set at the Indiana Invitational last spring. Senior Bethany Brunner also carded a career-low 73 on the final 18 holes in the Shootout's second round as well.
Junior Molly Redfearn blazed the course at the Mary Fossum Invitational (Sept. 18-19) to a career-best tournament performance with a 226 (75-75-76) en route to a second-place tie with Illinois State's Katie Laehn. The effort shattered each of her personal-best marks, eclipsing her previous career-low of 77 set at the 2002 Wolverine Invitational and the 2002 Legends Shootout. Her 36-hole tally of 150 also bettered her previous standard of 157 set at the 2002 Lady Northern Invitational and the 2002 Legends Shootout. Additionally, her total of 226 demolished her former best tournament outing at the 2002 Legends when she fired a 234. Last, her second-place tie crushed her highest placement of a 23rd-place tie at the 2002 Wolverine Invitational.
Coach Clint Wallman's Thoughts
On the upcoming "Mo"Morial Tournament:
"Historically, this has been a great tournament. There are always a bunch of Texas teams that compete in this event. The field will not be as strong as it was in the Central District Classic, but it will still be a good and competitive field and should be a good test for our younger golfers."
On the team's mentality:
"The team's confidence is really high right now because we played well in Florida (Central Districts). They have a positive outlook and are looking forward to getting better. Even though it was a very strong field at the Central Districts, they know we were able to compete and hang in there a majority of that tournament with some of the top teams in the country."
On the expectations for this tournament:
"We definitely want to improve on our overall team score. We hope to continue the trend we started last fall and improve our scores every tournament we compete in. The Central District was the first tournament the entire season we did not do that, so it is certainly a goal to improve that way."
Redfearn Leads Way
Junior Molly Redfearn continues to lead the way for the Hoosiers during the 2004-05 season. Redfearn has been IU's leader in two of the five tournaments it played during the campaign. Redfearn leads the squad with a stroke average of 79.53, while also recording the team's top finish for an individual, placing in a tie for second at the Mary Fossum Invitational on Sept. 18-19, 2004.
Last Year At The Verizon "Mo"Morial
The Indiana University women's golf team placed sixth out of 16 teams at the Texas A&M "Mo"morial Invitational in 2004 at the Blackhorse Golf Club.
The Hoosiers turned in a better performance from their first two rounds, carding a final round 311 to finish at 915 (299-305-311). IU was two strokes out of the lead going into the final round, and finished six shots back of Kansas State and Missouri, who finished tied for first at 909. Indiana's 915 set a new best IU team 54-hole record at the "Mo"morial Invitational. The previous record was 917, set in 2001 when the Hoosiers won the team title.
Senior Karen Dennison finished the tournament with a final round 78, which placed her in a tie for sixth individually at 7-over-par, 223 (72-73-78).
Dennison, a native of Madison, Ind., had begun the day atop the leader board.
On the day, senior Danah Ford carded a 3-over-par 75 to finish with a 228 (77-76-75) in a tie for 15th. Sophomore Molly Redfearn finished tied for 19th at 229 (76-76-77).
Wallman Replaces Carmichael At Helm
First-year head coach Clint Wallman replaces the legendary Sam Carmichael, who retired last May after 23 years at the helm of the Hoosier program. During a 21-year span from 1984-2004, Indiana was the only team in the Big Ten to place among the top three 17 times, and Carmichael was named Big Ten Coach of the Year eight times.
Three Signed To NLI
Indiana women's golf head coach Clint Wallman announced the signing of three future prospects for the women's golf team. Tara Boone (Huntington, Ind./Huntington North HS), Tiffany Hockensmith (Bloomington, Ind./Bloomington South HS) and Amber Lindgren (Kokomo, Ind./Western HS) have all signed a National Letter of Intent to play golf at Indiana beginning in the 2005-06 campaign.
"I am extremely excited about the signing of this year's class," women's golf head coach Clint Wallman said. "The state of Indiana has a tremendous amount of golf talent and one of the key ingredients to our future success is to tap that talent. Being able to sign Indiana State Junior Champions Tiffany Hockensmith and Amber Lindgren as well as Tara Boone, who is a two-time All State player is a big plus for our program."
Boone will come to Indiana from Huntington North High School where she earned all-state honors in 2003 and 2004, as well as all-conference honors in each of her four seasons. During her senior season, Boone won three tournaments for the Vikings, including the Indiana Sectionals, marking the third consecutive year she claimed sectional medalist honors. Boone was named team MVP and played at the No. 1 spot all four years. Throughout high school, Boone claimed 13 event titles.
Hockensmith is a product of Bloomington South High School, where she was tabbed the 2003 Mountain Dew Player of the Year and was one of eight females selected to the Tri-State Challenge team in 2003 and 2004. The talented performer from Bloomington, Ind., competed well in many tournaments during her high school career, highlighted by capturing the 2003 Indiana Girls State Juniors championship, as well as winning the Plantations Junior Golf Tournament in 2004. Additionally, Hockensmith was a sectional medalist in 2003 and was named 2003 team MVP.
Lindgren will also remain in the state of Indiana, where she was a four-time letterwinner at Western High School. In 2004, Lindgren played her way to the individual championship of the Indiana Girls State Tournament, where she also finished runner-up in 2003, on her way to receiving the Indiana Golf Tour Player of the Year honors. In addition, the Huntington, Ind., product was named as a Future Collegians World Tour (FCWT) second team All-American. She averaged a 73.9 as a junior and 74.4 as a senior, including a career-low round of 67 in the final qualifying round of the Girls State Juniors at the Players Club in Muncie, Ind. She was also a four-year All-Conference, All-Sectional, All-Regional and All-State performer, as well as a member of the National Honor Society.
Fall Season In Review
The Indiana women's golf team demonstrated a notable improvement during the 2004 fall campaign under new direction. Guiding the team in his first season was head coach Clint Wallman, who came to Indiana from the University of New Mexico. Wallman replaced the legendary Sam Carmichael, who retired last May after 23 years at the helm of the Hoosier program.
With the new adjustments, new leadership and brand new faces, Wallman expected some bumps in the road. However, the improvement and dedication he witnessed from each player and as a team proved the Hoosiers are on the right track and showed a sign of things to come in the future.
"I think we are going in the right direction," said Wallman. "Statistically, we improved in every tournament we played during the fall season. There have been a lot of positives we can draw from these four tournaments as we head into spring."
Wallman arrived in Bloomington after two seasons as an assistant coach at New Mexico. The Lobos enjoyed one of the best seasons in school history in 2003-04, capped by a 15th-place finish at the NCAA Tournament.
"Having the opportunity to coach at Indiana is a dream come true," Wallman said. "There is a tremendous history associated with Hoosier golf, and I am very excited to continue the tradition of excellence which Coach Carmichael began."
The squad opened the fall campaign at the Lady Northern Invitational on Sept. 11-12 in Ann Arbor, Mich. Despite a 14th-place finish with a score of 969 (324-327-318), there were some good things in store in the near future.
Those bright spots commenced at the next tournament, the Mary Fossum Invitational on Sept. 18-19 in East Lansing, Mich. The Hoosiers finished in 10th-place with a 960 (319-314-327), while junior Molly Redfearn provided a major highlight for the Hoosiers with a career round on the links.
Redfearn blazed the course with a 226 (75-75-76) en route to a second-place tie with Illinois State's Katie Laehn. The effort bested her highest placement of a 23rd-place tie at the 2002 Wolverine Invitational.
More improvement was seen in the team's third tournament of the fall, the Shootout at the Legends on Oct. 4-5, in Franklin, Ind. The Hoosiers finished in 10th place with a total tally of 961 (333-315-313) during the two-day event. During tournament play, junior Katie Carlson stole the spotlight with career-best round of 78. The Livonia, Mich., native also recorded her career-best 54-hole performance with a 239 (81-80-78), shattering her old mark of 266 set at the Indiana Invitational last spring.
Junior Bethany Brunner led IU in the Shootout with a tie for 24th overall with a 235 on the par 72, 6,134-yard Legends Golf Course. Brunner shot a career-best 73 in the second round, while also recording an 81 on her first and third rounds. Putnam finished in a tie for 45th overall a 244 (87-81-76).
Indiana finished the fall competition in style, traveling to Honolulu, Hawaii, to compete at the Kent Youel Invitational on Oct. 26-27. The Hoosiers carded a team score of 944 (311-317-316) to finish in 13th position in one of the toughest fields IU competed against during the fall season. The Hoosiers final round of 316 enabled the team to record their lowest team score of the fall season. IU's previous season best was a 960, posted at the Mary Fossum Invitational on Sept. 18-19.
The Hoosiers were led by Redfearn who recorded a 231 (79-76-76) and tied for 40th overall. Brunner followed Redfearn with a 237 (73-84-80) and tied for 51st. Putnam (78-81-80) and Carlson (81-78-80) both fired a 239 and tied for 54th. Carlson's three-round tally matched her career best which was set in the previous tournament, the Shootout at the Legends. Freshman Kendal Hake rounded out the Cream and Crimson by finishing in 75th with a 253 (83-82-88).
