The first spring tournament for the Golden Flashes features 15 top 100 teams

KENT, Ohio – The Kent State women’s golf team begins spring tournament action this weekend when the Golden Flashes take part in the 15-team Lady Puerto Rico Classic Feb. 12-14 at the River Course of Rio Mar Country Club in Rio Grande, P.R.

The tournament format features 18 holes each of the three days of the tournament. Shotgun starts are slated for all three days; Sunday and Monday will begin at 8 a.m., with Tuesday’s action beginning at 7:30 a.m.

Rio Mar Country Club’s River Course, designed by Greg Norman, will play as a par 72, 6,191-yard course. Live stats will be available through golfstat.com.

This is the 10^th consecutive year Kent State will participate in the Lady Puerto Rico Classic, hosted by Purdue. Kent State’s best finish came during the spring of 2008, when the Golden Flashes tied for third in an 18-team field.

Scouting the Golden Flashes

Kent State wrapped up the four-tournament fall season with a 12^th place finish at the Betsy Rawls Longhorn Invitational Oct. 31-Nov. 2. Senior Mercedes Germino (Necochea, Argentina) was the team’s top finisher, as she tied for 15^th with an eight-over 224. In 12 rounds, Germino was the team’s leader in stroke average in the fall with 74.3.

Freshman Jennifer Ha (Calgary, Alberta) also performed well in the fall, posting a 74.5 stroke average, including a season-low 69 at the Stanford Intercollegiate Oct. 14-16. Her best finish was in her collegiate debut, tying for fourth at the Mary Fossum Invitational Sept. 17-18 with an eight-over 224.

Six golfers will be in action for Kent State at the Betsy Rawls Invitational; along with Germino and Ha, the starting five will include seniors Mandi Morrow (Kent, Ohio) and Shamira Marshall (Macedonia, Ohio) and junior Jackie Yanch (Barrie, Ontario). Sophomore Erin Hawe (Walton, New Zealand) will play as an unattached individual.

Scouting the Tournament Field

Kent State is one of 15 teams participating in the Lady Puerto Rico Classic. Joining the Golden Flashes and the host Purdue Boilermakers are Arkansas, Georgia, Iowa State, LSU, Michigan, Nebraska, N.C. State, Northwestern, Oklahoma State, Penn State, SMU, TCU and Texas Tech.

Kent State is one of 12 teams ranked in the top 50 by Golf Week’s Sagarin rankings, and all 15 are in the top 100 teams statistically. In the Nov. 23 release of Golf World’s coaches poll, four participating teams were in the top 25 (including No. 7 LSU) while four more, including Kent State, received votes.

Alabama won last year’s tournament title, but the Crimson Tide will not return to defend their title.

Next Up

Kent State return to action Feb. 20-21 when the Golden Flashes participate in the Central District Challenge at River Wilderness Country Club in Parrish, Fla.