Indiana University Athletics
Women's Golf Open Season at Mary Fossum Invitational
9/10/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
Sept. 10, 2009
Tournament Notes: Mary Fossum Invitational 
MARY FOSSUM INVITATIONAL
Sept. 12-13
Forest Akers West Golf Course- East Lansing, Mich.
Tournament Field: Indiana, Eastern Michigan, Ferris State, Grand Valley State, Iowa, James Madison, Kentucky, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Oakland, Ohio, Purdue, Toledo, Western Michigan
Course Information: Forest Akers West Golf Course • Par 72 • 6,236
Results: golfstat.com (Live Scoring); IUHOOSIERS.com (post-tournament results)
SETTING THE SCENE
• Indiana opens the 2009-10 season at the Mary Fossum Invitational in East Lansing, Mich.
• The tournament has a Big Ten flair with seven of the 11 teams competing.
• The tournament will mark the debut of freshmen Pamela Burneski and Jacqueline Yanch. Both had a solid week of qualifying to earn a spot on the trip.
• The will be joined by the senior trio of Laura Nochta, Kellye Belcher and Anita Gahir.
•The teams will play 36 holes on Saturday, beginning at 8:30 a.m., followed by 18 holes on Sunday, also at 8:30 a.m.
THE LINEUP
• Senior Laura Nochta
• Freshman Pamela Burneski
• Senior Kellye Belcher
• Senior Anita Gahir
• Freshman Jacqueline Yanch
WALLMAN'S THOUGHTS
• "One thing we want to do as a coaching staff is treat this as the new year it is. Last year is in the books and even though we may not have gotten as far as we wanted to last year we have learned from it and moved on."
• "Our expectation is that we are going to try to go up there and win the golf tournament. We have five strong players. Head-to-toe this is probably one of our strongest groups we've had since I've been here."
• "It is a great field. Purdue and Michigan State are probably the two premier teams. Notre Dame was very solid last year, and I think Northwestern is going to be much improved. The competition level is going to be pretty high and there will be a few teams battling for the top two or three spots."
• "(The two freshman) both had really great qualifyings. Pamela had a great summer, winning three events. She was incredibly steady during qualifying. She had very few mistakes and just played her game. She is very seasoned for a freshman. She is very motivated not only to be the best player on our team, but also one of the best players nationally."
• "Jackie Yanch, from Ontario, is equally motivated. She is a great ball striker and is very athletic and competitive. She really came back in qualifying. She got off to kind of a rugged start but had a great weekend at Otter Creek and Eagle Pointe. When she had to hit shots she clutched it up and made good swings."
• "It is a different look (to our roster). This is the first year that we've had a 10-deep roster. That is really exciting because we have a lot of competition for spots. Our qualifying was competitive and it elevated the play of everyone."
FRESH FACES
• Five newcomers have joined the Indiana women's golf team for the 2009-10 season.
• Pamela Burneski comes from Surrey, B.C. where she has had a very successful junior golf career, including three wins in the summer of 2009.
• Katie Coons is a two-time Western Massachusetts champion out of Wilbraham, Mass.
• Molly O'Connor finished in the top 20 at the Illinois state high school tournament each of her last three years at Wheaton-Warrenville South.
• Jackie Yanch, out of Barrie, Ontario, has been a member of Team Ontario and brings international experience to IU.
• Kylee Wierks is a local product out of Ft. Wayne, where she led Northrop High School to conference titles in 2007 and 2008.
BUSY SUMMER FOR BURNESKI
• Freshman Pamela Burneski had a busy summer, winning three tournaments in the lead-up to her freshman year.
• Burneski won the 2009 Washington State Golf Association Amateur Championship with a three-round score of 228.
• She also took the 2009 Washington State Golf Association Women's Best Ball Championship.
• Burneski closed out the summer by taking first in the championship flight of the 2009 Tamarack Golf Tournament
NOCHTA, COONS HAVE SUMMER SUCCESS
• Senior Laura Nochta advanced to the round of 16 at the Western Women's Golf Association 109th National Amateur Championship being contested at Shawnee Country Club in Lima, Ohio.
• Nochta's week began with the qualifying rounds June 15-16, where she posted score of 77 and 73 to finish tied for third at 150 and earn a spot in the match play Championship Flight.
• On June 17, Nochta defeated Courtney Horter in 19 holes. That placed her in the round of 32 on June 18, where she defeated Julia Thread, 5 and 4. The round of 16 was also contested on Thursday with Nochta's tournament run coming to an end at the hands of Betsie Johnson, 2 and 1.
• Coons won the Women's Golf Association of Massachusetts Junior Championship.
• Coons carded a two-day total of 144 at Indiana Pond Country Club in Kingston, Mass. She took home the title by four strokes over Isabel Southard.
• She opened play with a 71 and closed out the tournament with a 73
BELCHER SPENDS HER SUMMER OVERSEAS
• Senior Kellye Belcher was selected to be part of the 26th annual Collegiate All-Star Golf Team which competed in a series of tournaments in Asia in June and July.
• She was part of a 10-person team that played the NCAA All-Star Invitational at Palos Verdes Golf Club in Los Angeles, Calif. on June 25, before leaving for a tour of Asia from June 26 through July 12.
• The 11 tournaments in Asia were held in Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea and China.
Players Mentioned
