Indiana University Athletics
Hoosiers Take on Challenging Field at IU Invitational
4/5/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
April 5, 2008
Complete Release in PDF Format
IU INVITATIONAL
April 7-8
Crooked Stick Golf Club - Carmel, Ind.
Tournament Field: No. 43 Indiana, Ball State, Illinois, Illinois St., Iowa, Lipscomb, Michigan, Minnesota, Northwestern, No. 44 Ohio State, No. 42 Oregon, Penn State, No. 6 Purdue, No. 27 Texas, UNLV
Course Information: Crooked Stick Golf Club • Par 72
Results: golfstat.com (Live Scoring); IUHOOSIERS.com (post-tournament results)
SETTING THE SCENE
• Indiana plays host to its only home event of the season as it welcomes 14 teams to Crooked Stick Golf Club in Carmel, Ind. for the annual IU Invitational.
• Five top-50 teams in the latest GolfWeek/Sagarin rankings, including No. 43 IU, will take part in the event.
• Leading the way is No. 6 Purdue, along with No. 27 Texas, No. 42 Oregon and No. 44 Ohio State.
• The Big Ten is well represented with IU, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Northwestern, No. 44 Ohio State, Penn State and No. 6 Purdue.
• "We have a really good field. It is kind of like a mini Big Ten warm up," said IU head coach Clint Wallman. Purdue is here, Texas is very good, Ohio State plus UNLV and Oregon from the West. So we have some really good teams. I think it is a great preparation for us heading into the conference championship."
• The Hoosiers are riding a wave of confidence after picking up their first team victory since 2006 at last weekend's Mountain View Collegiate in Tucson, Ariz.
THE LINEUP
• Sophomore Anita Gahir
• Senior Lauren Harling
• Sophomore Laura Nochta
• Senior Elaine Harris
• Sophomore Kellye Belcher
NEWS AND NOTES
• The Hoosiers are heading into the homestretch of the season playing some of their best golf after a first-place finish at last weekend's Mountain View Collegiate in Tucson, Ariz.
• 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).
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 is 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 seven top-10 finishes in eight tournaments.
• Indiana is averaging a score of 304.65 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 moved up six spots in the latest Golfweek poll released March 30, claiming the No. 43 slot.
• The Hoosiers are third among four Big Ten teams in the top 50, behind No. 6 Purdue, No. 16 Michigan State, and ahead of No. 44 Ohio State.
• Individual Rankings:
- Anita Gahir- 195
- Laura Nochta- 201
- Lauren Harling- 287
- Kellye Belcher- 307
- Elaine Harris- 323
• In the latest GolfStat head-to-head standings, the Hoosiers hold the No. 50 spot, moving up one notch.
HEAD COACH Clint Wallman SPEAKS
• "It's hard to believe it is the last tournament before Big Tens. We feel pretty good coming off Mountain View, but we also realize that is just one week."
• "We need to get after it this week so we can hopefully accomplish the same thing as we did last week."
• "At Mountain View we tried to make every shot precious and play with a sense of urgency and realize every one of these things counts. It effects out rankings, it effects our placings in tournaments."
• "This time of year, shots and finishes tend to be more important even though they shouldn't be because the shots and the things we did in September, October and throughout the year are equally important. Now there is just a shorter window."
• "We've had a major attitude shift and that was reflected in how we played at Mountain View. We were definitely more patient . We played with urgency and they tried to grind out the best they could on each shot."
• "I think there is a lot of confidence that came from not only winning, but winning by a pretty good margin and having three of the players in the top seven. That really gave the girls a lot of confidence and I think it is good we are heading back into competition within a week."
Players Mentioned
