Indiana University Athletics
Women's Golf Opens Play at Big Ten Championship Friday
4/24/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
April 24, 2008
Complete Release in PDF Format
Big Ten Diary- Lauren Harling
2008 Big Ten Women's Golf Championship- April 25-27
Penn State Blue Course- State College, Pa.
Tournament Field: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, Wisconsin
Course Information: Penn State Blue Course • Par 72 • 6,300
Results: golfstat.com (Live Scoring) • IUHOOSIERS.com (post-tournament results)
SETTING THE SCENE
• With the regular season behind them, the Indiana Hoosiers open postseason play at the Big Ten Championship, April 25-27 at the Penn State Blue Course in State College, Pa.
• The Hoosiers are looking to improve upon last year's fifth-place finish. Anita Gahir was the top individual finisher for IU last season, coming home in a tie for 15th with a 72-hole score of 310.
• Six competitors from each team will take the course, with the top four scores from each squad counting toward the team title.
• The teams will play 36 holes on Friday with 18 hole rounds on Saturday and Sunday.
• Michigan State is the defending Big Ten Champion.
THE LINEUP
• Sophomore Anita Gahir
• Senior Lauren Harling
• Sophomore Laura Nochta
• Senior Elaine Harris
• Sophomore Kellye Belcher
• Junior Amber Lindgren
NEWS AND NOTES
• The Hoosiers have had a two-week break after finishing eighth in the Indiana Invitational at Crooked Stick Golf Club in Carmel, Ind., April 7-8.
• Sophomore Anita Gahir posted the low round of the day for Indiana in the final round, shooting a 1-over 73 to finish the tournament tied for 13th at 223 (73-77-73). She also carded the low round in the first round with another 73.
• Playing in her final home event, senior Elaine Harris tied for 24th with an 11-over 227, posting a 77 on the final day (77-73-77). She was one of just two IU players to finish under 80 for the final round.
• Indiana won its first tournament of the season at the Mountain View Collegiate in Tucson, Ariz., March 29-30.
• Indiana tallied a three-round score of 880, the second-lowest total in school history and two strokes better than their performance at the same event last year when they finished third.
• Leading the way was senior Lauren Harling who picked up her first-ever individual win, carding a career-best 215, including a second-round score of 70, to finish the tournament 1-under par.
• Sophomore Anita Gahir had the round of the season with an IU-best 68 in the third round. That is tied for second on the Hoosier all-time single-round list and tops her previous best by two strokes. Overall Gahir finished with a 220 and tied for seventh.
• Laura Nochta was also a top-10 finisher, coming in tied for fourth with a 219. Nochta opened the tournament strong with a 2-under 70 on the first day.
• Kellye Belcher tied for 49th (229), while Elaine Harris finished in a tie for 76th (237). Competing as an individual, Amber Lindgren completed the tournament in a tie for 83rd (239).
INDIANA AT THE BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIP
• Indiana has seen success at the Big Ten Women's Golf Championship in past years. The Hoosiers have claimed seven championship crowns, which ranks second in league history.
• IU's last Big Ten title came in 1998 in University Park, Pa. The Hoosiers have also claimed the title in 1986, 1987, 1990, 1992, 1995 and 1996.
• Indiana has garnered 10 Big Ten individual medalist honors in school history, including two honorees over the last four seasons (Karen Dennison in 2003 and Danah Ford in 2004). • Former Hoosier Erica Wicoff claimed medalist honors a school-record three times (1994, 1995 and 1996), while the only other women's golfer in IU lore to claim individual honors more than once was Erin Carney (1998 and 1999).
2007 BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIP RECAP
• Freshman Anita Gahir finished tied for 15th at her first Big Ten Championship as the Indiana women's golf team wrapped up the event in fifth place. The Hoosiers had a team total of 1244 (311-315-304-314) at the event.
• Gahir carded an 80 on Sunday for a four-round total of 310 (75-76-79-80). She is followed by junior Elaine Harris at 313 (81-81-72-79), good for a tie for 21st place and junior Lauren Harling, who turned in a 313 (77-81-76-79) at the event to also finish in 21st place. Freshman Kellye Belcher wrapped up the tournament in 28th place with a 72-hole total of 316 (84-78-77-77), while classmate Laura Nochta tied for 33rd at 318 (78-80-81-79). Sophomore Amber Lindgren rounded out the IU lineup tied for 50th position with a total of 327 (82-82-82-81).
OWNING THE MOUNTAIN
• For the second-straight season, the IU women's golf team produced the medalist at the Mountain View Collegiate in Tucson, Ariz.
• In 2008, Lauren Harling picked up her first career win with a 215 for the one-stroke victor over Erica Moston of San Jose State.
• The 2007 tournament saw Elaine Harris take home top honors as she came into the clubhouse with a 7-under par total of 209, setting a new single-tournament scoring mark in the process.
• For the victorious Hoosiers, it was also the team's second-straight top-five finish at the event after placing third in 2007.
HARLING IS BIG TEN GOLFER OF THE WEEK...AGAIN
• For the second time in three weeks, Indiana University senior Lauren Harling was the Big Ten Women's Golfer of the Week, the league office announced April 2.
• Harling won the award after picking up her first career individual title with a 1-under 215 at the 54-hole Mountain View Collegiate in Tucson, Ariz. After an opening-round 73, Harling came back with a 2-under 70 in the second round and closed out with an even-par 72 on the final day.
• Her three-round total of 215 is a career best and gave IU its second-straight medalist at the Mountain View after Elaine Harris took top honors in 2007.
• Thanks to Harling's win and a career-best 68 in the third round from sophomore Anita Gahir, the Hoosiers picked up their first team victory since 2006 with a nine-stroke victory over San Jose State. IU's 880 team score in the second-lowest in school history.
• Harling picked up her first Big Ten honor on March 19.
• At the UNLV Spring Invitational, Harling carded a career-best 216 (E) over 54 holes, including a career-low round of 70 on the final day. She finished the tournament in a tie for 16th, also a career best since joining the program last spring.
• For the tournament Harling recorded nine birdies and 38 pars and saw her scores get progressively better with rounds of 74, 72 and 70. She is the first Hoosier golfer this season to finish a tournament at even par or better.
• Harling moved up 50 spots in this week's GolfWeek/Sagarin individual rankings, going from 337 to 287.
OUT OF THE GATES
• 2007 marked the first time the Hoosiers opened the fall with four-straight top-five finishes since the 2002-03 season.
• Overall this year Indiana has eight top-10 finishes in nine tournaments.
• Indiana is averaging a score of 304.58 per round, which if maintained through the spring would be the second-lowest average on record in school history.
• In 2006-07 Indiana finished no worse than 11th in any of its five fall tournaments. In 2007-08 the Hoosiers worst finish has been 11th at the UNLV Spring Invitational.
NATIONAL RANKINGS
• Indiana remains No. 43 in the latest Golfweek poll released April 20.
• The Hoosiers are fourth among four Big Ten teams in the top 50, behind No. 6 Purdue, No. 16 Michigan State, and No. 40 Ohio State.
• Individual Rankings:
- Anita Gahir- 172
- Laura Nochta- 201
- Lauren Harling- 292
- Kellye Belcher- 332
- Elaine Harris- 301
- Amber Lindgren- 546
• In the latest GolfStat head-to-head standings released April 16, the Hoosiers hold the No. 54 spot.
CAMP DATES ANNOUNCED
• The Indiana women's golf team will host a series of camps this summer for coaches and players.
• The Hoosier Women's Golf Camp will host two sessions, one from June 6-7, and a second from June 13-14. Players will train with Wallman, a PGA Professional, and assistant coach Katie Brophy. Topics to be covered in the camp include the short game, the long game, video analysis, team building and understanding of teammates.
• The Hoosier Golf Coaches Clinic will be held July 17, with instruction from Wallman and PGA Professional and head men's golf coach Mike Mayer. The duo will share their knowledge on drills and on course teaching, tournament preparation, fitness for golfers and the mental game of golf.
• In addition, Wallman will hold Red Zone Clinics on May 17 and June 21. Comprehensive instruction will cover all aspects of putting and wedge play.
• Brochures for both camps and clinics are available on the IUHOOSIERS.com Camps and Clinics page.
• For more information, please contact Coach Wallman at cwallman@indiana.edu or by phone at (812) 856-5280.
Players Mentioned
