Women's golf visits Ohio's capital city for Lady Buckeye Spring Invitational
4/20/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
THE EVENT: The Ohio State University serves as host of the Lady Buckeye Spring Invitational at the Ohio State Golf Club Scarlet Course, a par-72, 5,887-yard course. The 54-hole event is scheduled to tee off at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday (April 21) with the first two rounds and wrap up Sunday (April 22) with the final 18 holes. Both days will begin with a shotgun start.
THE FIELD: Kent State enters the Lady Buckeye Spring Invitational as the third-best ranked team of the 13-team field at No. 29, according to the Golfweek Sagarin Performance Index. Purdue owns the highest ranking (12) of the squads, which all hail from the Midwest with the exception of Pennsylvania State (106). Familiar rivals will dot the field for the Golden Flashes, as Eastern Michigan (92), Toledo (94), Western Michigan (107) and Ohio (170) also represent the MAC. The rest of the field consists of Michigan State (22), Ohio State (32), Northwestern (33), Indiana (48), Iowa (84), Wisconsin (90) and Illinois (104).
LAST YEAR: The Golden Flashes grabbed a fourth-place finish at last year's Lady Buckeye Spring Invitational, carding a total score of 887. Kent State fired rounds of 287, 302 and 298. Auburn University finished 27 strokes ahead of the second-place University of Florida to win the event with a total score of 849.
LAST TIME OUT FOR KENT STATE: Kent State cliniched a 13th-place finish at the 35th Annual Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic (March 23-25) in Athens, Ga., with a final-round score of 303 on Sunday, the best of the three-day event for the Golden Flashes (+75). KSU's total score of 927 tied the University of Central Florida.
IN THE RANKINGS: Kent State dropped two spots in the Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index, falling from 27th to 29th in the latest rankings (April 15). The Golden Flashes received one vote in favor of their entrance into the fourth Golf World/National Golf Coaches Association Division I Coaches' Poll, which was released April 18.
THE LINEUP: The starting lineup sees the addition of freshman Ruth Turner this week.
Tara Delaney: Entered final round of Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic in seventh place, but fell back to 12th by shooting a 76 after posting scores of 73 on the first two days. Compiled a total score of 222 to finish in a three-way tie for 13th. Tied for 13th at last year's Lady Buckeye Spring Invitational with a total score of 221. Junior from Carlow, Ireland, leads team in scoring average (74.33), most sub par holes (9), first-round average (74.50), par 4 scoring (4.20), birdies (57), pars per round (10.83), bogeys per round (4.04), fairways hit (.817) and putting par (2.50).
Kira Meixner: Improved her standing on the leaderboard in final round of Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic, scoring a 75 to put her total at 235 and tie her for 56th. Finished in a tie for seventh at last year's Lady Buckeye Spring Invitational, carding a 219. Junior from Richmond, British Columbia, leads team in par 3 scoring (3.20)
Kirby Dreher: Upped her score by six strokes in the final round of Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic, shooting a 71 to earn a total of 227 to catapult her from a tie for 53rd place to a three-way tie for 28th. Scored a 224 to take a 24th-place tie at last year's Lady Buckeye Spring Invitational. Sophomore from Ft. St. John, British Columbia, is tied with Tara Delaney for low-round score (69) and leads team in last-round average (74.25), par 5 scoring (5.02), sub par strokes per round (2.42), birdie conversion (2.19) and sand saves (.375).
Karen Delaney: Rounded out the Kent State scoring at Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic, totaling a 268 to place 94th. Tied for 35th by carding a 227 at last year's Lady Buckeye Spring Invitational. Senior from Carlow, Ireland, leads team in eagles (2).
Maddi Swaney: Fell back one spot in final round of Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic to finish the event in 79th place by shooting an 81 to bring her total to 243. Tied for 70th with a score of 241 at last year's Lady Buckeye Spring Invitational. Sophomore from Marietta, Ohio, is third on team in birdie conversion (.193).
Lindsay Salsburg: Competing in Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic as an individual competitor, her first event of the 2007 spring season. Finished the event in a tie for 88th, moving up one place despite shooting five strokes worse than the previous day in the final round to put her total at 252.
Ruth Turner: Freshman from Akron, Ohio, competing in first event of her collegiate career as an individual (score will not count toward team's overall score).
UP NEXT: The Golden Flashes, who have won every Mid-American Conference Championship, go for their ninth straight next weekend (April 27-29). Junior Tara Delaney medaled at the 2006 conference championships, shooting a total of 287 with scores of 73, 69, 74 and 71.
