Indiana University Athletics
IU Invite Notes (3/25/05)
3/25/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
This marks the 22nd year the Hoosiers have played host to the event. IU has captured the Indiana Invitational title on nine separate occasions, the last one coming in 2000. Individually, nine Hoosiers have claimed the individual medalist honor, including former IU standout Karen Dennison winning in 2004.
Tournament play will begin Saturday, April 2, with continuous play in the first round beginning with a shotgun start at noon. The final round will be an 8 a.m. shotgun start on Sunday, April 3. The initial round of play was eliminated due to thunder storms.
Scoring for the event will be six players, with the low four scores from each team for each round being counted. Golfers playing as individuals will not be counted toward the team score.
The Field
The event consists of three rounds, 36 holes played on Saturday and the final 18 holes taking place on Sunday. In addition to the Hoosiers, 18 other teams will participate in the tournament. Joining IU will be Ball State, Bowling Green, Eastern Michigan, Ferris State, Grand Valley, Illinois, Iowa, IPFW, Marshall, Minnesota, Notre Dame, Ohio, St. John's, Toledo, Arkansas-Little Rock, Indianapolis, Wisconsin and Xavier.
The Hoosiers will enter one team of six golfers and an individual in the field this week. Making up the Indiana team is senior Bethany Brunner, juniors Molly Redfearn and Katie Carlson and freshmen Elaine Harris, Stephanie Mayotte and Gennifer Marrs. Another freshman, Kendal Hake will compete individually.
Good Golly Miss Molly
Junior Molly Redfearn continues to lead the IU women's golf team on the season. For the first time this spring and the third time in six tournaments played during the 2004-05 campaign, Redfearn was the top Hoosier finisher. Most recently, the Racine, Wis., native led IU in the Verizon "Mo"Morial, with a 245 to place in a tie for 38th overall on the challenging 6,255-yard Traditions Golf Course in Houston, Texas. Redfearn also led Indiana in the Kent Youel Invitational (Oct. 26-27) and the Mary Fossum Invitational (Sept. 18-19).
At the UNLV Spring Invitational on March 14-16, Redfearn carded a season-low round of 74 during the final 18 holes of the tournament.
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."
Marrs/Mayotte Make Hoosier Debuts
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. She has competed in each of the three spring tournaments, and averages an 88.33 per 18 holes.
Additionally, redshirt freshman Gennifer Marrs also saw the first action of her collegiate career when she competed at the UNLV Spring Invitational. Competing as an individual, Marrs played three rounds and averaged a 91.67 per round.
Last Time Out
With the aid of junior Molly Redfearn's season-low round of 74 on the tournament's final day (March 16), the IU women's golf team closed play at the UNLV Spring Invitational with a 982, which was good enough for 14th place overall. After struggling with high winds to shoot a 343 on Monday, the Hoosiers closed the tournament with a 318 on Tuesday and 321 on Wednesday's final round, which were two of the four lowest rounds during the spring season.
Redfearn began on the final round back nine where she shot a five-over par 41 and only one birdie. However, the Racine, Wis., native blistered the second nine, recording four birdies with only one bogey to finish with a three-under par 33. For the tournament, Redfearn finished in a tie for 68th overall with a 247 (89-84-74).
It was freshman Elaine Harris, playing in her sixth career tournament, who led the Hoosiers for the second time in three spring tournaments. Harris improved her scores every day during the Invitational, going from an 82 to on Monday, to an 80 on Tuesday and finishing with a 78 to place in a tie for 41st (240).
Senior Bethany Brunner tied for 62nd overall with a 244 (84-78-83) on the par 72, 6,009-yard Black Mountain Golf Course. Senior Katie Carlson placed just behind Brunner, coming in a tie for 89th with a 254 (88-80-86), while freshman Stephanie Mayotte closed the tournament with a 262 (92-80-87) to finish in 91st.
Next Up
The Cream and Crimson will next travel to Columbus, Ohio, to compete at the Lady Buckeye Invitational on April 16-17.
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 coaching through his first Indiana Invitational:
"I think this is going to be a lot of fun. It is an honor to step into theses shoes. The Indiana Invitational has a great tradition so I am looking forward to carrying that tradition and history on."
On the competition:
"We have a great mix of teams competing in the Invitational. We have a few Big Ten teams which is good for us prior to the Big Ten Championship. There are also some teams we haven't seen this year, so it is going to be a very diverse field."
On returning to play after a two week break:
"I think the break was much needed. We participated in the UNLV Invitational, as well as a friendly match against a very good Iowa State team. We needed the time to recharge our batteries and get ourselves prepared for the Indiana Invitational."
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.
