Women's Golf Plays at Indiana Invitational April 3-4
3/31/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
at Indiana University Golf Course (Par 74, 6,034 yards), Bloomington, Ind.
Recent Result: 16th of 18 teams (315-311-303=929) at the Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic
Top Kent State Finisher: Junior Gabby Wedding (73-78-71=222, +6), T-18th
KENT, Ohio The Kent State University womens golf team begins its second tournament in a week Saturday, when it plays at the Indiana Womens Invitational, April 3-4. The Golden Flashes are coming off a 16th place finish at the Liz Murpehy Collegiate Classic last weekend. Kent State is ranked 35th in the latest Golfweek national poll, and 12th in the Central Region.
ABOUT THE INDIANA INVITATIONAL: Kent State competes this weekend at the Indiana Womens Invitational, April 3-4, hoping to improve upon a third-place finish at last years event. The 54-hole tournament will be held at the 6,034-yard, par-74 Indiana University Golf Course in Bloomington. A year ago, Kent State shot 934 to place third, while Martina Gillen and Veronique Drouin each captured top-10 finishes. Gillen shot 229 (+7) to tie for sixth, while Drounin was ninth with a 231 (+9).
Purdue claimed last years team title, firing a 916 total, while the Michigans Kim Benedict won the individual title with a 222 aggregate.
The complete field: Arkansas-Little Rock, Eastern Michigan, Illinois State, Kent State, Indiana, Iowa, Marshall, Michigan, Michigan State, Missouri, Minnesota, Ohio, Notre Dame, Toledo, Wisconsin.
KENT STATE FINISHES 16TH AT LIZ MURPHEY: Kent State finished 16th among a strong field at the 2004 Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic March 28. Junior Gabby Wedding (Wilmington, Ohio/Wilmington) was Kent States highest finisher, placing T-18th by shooting a three-round total of 222 (+6).
Wedding opened the tournament with a 73, followed with 78, but closed with a one-under 71, tying for her low-round of the year. She has now placed in the top 20 in seven of the eight tournaments played this year. Senior Martina Gillen (Dublin, Ireland/Maryfield College) shot 79-75-72=226 (+7), to improve from 62nd following the first round to place 35th overall. Sophomore Becky Wood (Glossop, England/Glossopdale) carded 82-78-79=239 and placed 82nd, while sophomore Katie Williams (Cambridge, Ontario/Galt Collegiate) tied for 88th after totaling 81-80-82=243. Sophomore Caitlin Cully (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny) recorded rounds of 86-87-81=254 and senior Amanda Holzen (Cincinnati, Ohio/Princeton) finished with 88-90-83=261.
GOLDEN FLASHES, WEDDING WIN AT RIO VERDE: Kent State rallied from a three-shot first-round deficit to claim a three-stroke victory at the East/West Rio Verde Collegiate Invitational March 6. The Golden Flashes fired a two round total of 301-303=604, placing ahead of Boston College and first-round leader University of Arkansas-Little Rock, which each shot 610. The win is the second of the year for Kent State, which also won the Shootout at the Legends during the fall.
Junior Gabby Wedding (Wilmington, Ohio/Wilmington) led the Golden Flashes earning tournament medalist honors by shooting a one-over total of 145, which included an opening-round 71 (-1). Wedding finished one shot ahead of Linda Svensson of Arkansas-Little Rock.
Senior Martina Gillen (Dublin, Ireland/Maryfield College) joined Wedding in the top 10, finishing tied for fifth at five-over, 73-76=149, while freshman Karen Delaney (Carlow, Ireland/Gaelcholaiste Cheatharlach), who finished just outside the top 20, posted the best finish of her young career placing 21st. She bounced back from an opening round 80 with a 74 to finish at 154.
KENT STATE 13TH IN PUERTO RICO: Golden Flashes finished 13th at the 2004 Lady Puerto Rico Classic Feb. 22-24. Kent State totaled 313-321-314=948 over the three rounds, placing a pair of golfers in the top-20, as junior Gabby Wedding (Wilmington, Ohio/Wilmington) tied for ninth, while senior Martina Gillen (Dublin, Ireland/Maryfield College) tied for 16th.
Duke University won the tournament 285-293-284=862, while Veronica Felibert took home medalist honors with a three-under total of 213.
Wedding shot her low-round of the tournament, a 72,.in the final round to finish at 73-76-72=221 for a five-over total. Gillen was two shots behind Wedding at seven-over 223 (72-76-75). Sophomore Katie Williams (Cambridge, Ontario/Galt Collegiate) was 68th with 83-82-84=249, sophomore Caitlin Cully (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny) placed 72nd after 85-87-83=255 and freshman Karen Delaney (Carlow, Ireland/Gaelcholaiste Cheatharlach) rounded out the Kent State five in 76th place, shooting 91-88-84=263.
WEDDING RANKS AMONG THE BEST: Junior Gabby Wedding (Wilmington, Ohio/Wilmington) is a rising star in the collegiate golf world. In eight tournaments this season, she has notched five top-10 finishes and her 74.52 stroke average leads the squad. She ranks 68th nationally, according to the latest Golfweek/Sagarin poll and ranks among several Kent State career records in just her third season with the Flashes. At the Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic she tied for 18th by shooting a six-over 222, which included a final-round 71. It was her seventh top-20 finish in eight tournaments this year. At the East/West Rio Verde Invitational, March 5-6, Wedding notched her second career individual title, carding a one-over 141 to win by one shot. The individual tournament win is the second of Weddings career; she also won the Lady Buckeye Invitational in the Spring 2002 season. She has 15 career top-10 finishes.
GILLEN CHISELS NAME IN KSU RECORDS...: Senior Martina Gillen (Dublin, Ireland/Maryfield College) is nestled atop almost every career statistical category in Kent State history, including season stroke average (74.47), lowest round (67) and career wins (6). The three-time all-MAC first team selection also has 27 career top-10 finishes, breaking the school record previously held by former teammate Jan Dowling. Gillen currently has a season-stroke average of 74.91, second on the team, and is the 85th-ranked golfer in the nation according to the Golfweek/Sagarin rating.
WHILE WOOD ADDS NAME TO KSU RECORDS: A returning second-team all-MAC performer, sophomore Becky Wood (Derbyshire, England/Glossopdale C.C.) has etched a place in the Kent State record books very early in her career. In the first round of the Shootout at the Legends, Wood shot a tournament- and career-low 67. The five-under score ties the school record with senior Martina Gillen (Dublin, Ireland/Maryfield College). On the season, she tallied top-25 finishes in three tournaments and is third on the team with a 77.75 stroke average.
HEAD COACH MIKE MORROW: Head womens golf coach Mike Morrow (Kent State 76) has set the precedent and standard for the Kent State womens golf team. When you hear Kent State womens golf, you think success and tradition. The reputation has been there for only five seasons, but it still remains strong. A Kent State alumnus and former All-American for the mens team, Morrow took the reigns and developed the Kent State womens program from the ground up in 1997.
Since the 1998-99 inaugural season, the Golden Flashes experienced immediate success. Morrow has guided the Golden Flashes to five Mid-American Conference (MAC) titles in as many years. He has coached five MAC Players of the Year, five MAC medalists, four MAC Freshmen of the Year and 22 All-MAC honorees, including 15 first-team selections.
Morrow also has been named MAC Coach of the Year five consecutive times. After guiding Kent State to its first appearance in both the NCAA Central Regional and the NCAA Championships in 2001, Morrow was named the Central Region Coach of the Year by the Golf Coaches Association of America and the National Coach of the Year by Golfweek magazine.
Morrow is assisted by associate head coach Donnie Darr (Kent State 96), who was a third-team All-American in 1995 as a member of the Kent State mens golf team. Herb Page (Kent State 74) is the Director of Golf for the mens and womens teams. In his 26th year as the head coach of the mens golf team, Page also helped form the womens program at Kent State.
UP NEXT: The Kent State womens golf team competes next at the Lady Boilermaker Invitational, April 17-18 in West Lafayette, Ind., at the Boilermaker Golf Club.
