Kent State University
Betsy Rawls Longhorn Invitational
Women's Golf in search of third consecutive win at Betsy Rawls Invitational
10/8/2017 4:18:00 PM | Women's Golf
AUSTIN, Tex. – Tenth-ranked Kent State Women's Golf returns to the University of Texas Golf Club this week in search of a third consecutive victory over an elite field at the 44th Betsy Rawls Invitational.
While the Golden Flashes have enjoyed their success on the 6,491-yard, par-72 home of the Texas Longhorns, they spent Sunday's practice round preparing for a different setup from what they have encountered in the past.
"This is a course where you have always been able to be pretty aggressive driving off the tee," said Kent State head coach Greg Robertson. "We've had some long hitters and good ball strikers, and that has suited our team pretty well. The course is going to be playing a little longer this year because it will be hosting an NCAA regional in 2018 and they want to test the yardages to see what they want to do for that tournament.Â
"In the last couple of years, we've had a pretty good grasp of what we want to do. We still have to go out and stay aggressive, but I don't think any of the teams' scores will be as low as they have been in the past."
Teams will play 36 holes on Monday with the champion crowned following the 18-hole final round on Tuesday. The 15-team field includes seven of the top 25 teams in the latest Golfweek/Sagarin rankings.Â
"We will be playing with the tournament host Texas and Arizona State on the first day," said Robertson. "Texas is obviously the host, and they are ranked (19th in the nation). And Arizona State (No. 3) won the national championship last year, so this is going to be a good opportunity for us to gauge ourselves against some of the best teams in the nation."
The other ranked teams in the field include No. 11 Furman, No. 17 Texas Tech, No. 20 Oklahoma, and No. 25 Clemson.Â
Pimnipa Panthong, Michaela Finn, Marissa Kirkwood, Kory Nielsen, and Karoline Stormo will make up the Kent State lineup. Finn was runner-up in last year's Betsy Rawls Invitational, shooting a 7-under-par total that was one shot better than Panthong. As a team, a 4-under 284 on the final day helped the Flashes eclipse an eight-shot deficit and edge second-round leader Miami by a single stroke.
"We'll try to do the same things we've been doing all year, and really going back to last year when we won our first tournament of the year (in Austin)," said Robertson.
Monday's shotgun start is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. CDT.
Players Mentioned
