Spartans Close Regular Season at Lady Buckeye Invitational

April 16, 2015

EAST LANSING, Mich. - In the final regular season tournament of the year, the Michigan State women's golf team heads to Columbus, Ohio, this weekend (Saturday-Sunday, April 18-19) for the 35th annual Lady Buckeye Invitational. The 12-team tournament is being held at the par 72, 6,268-yard Scarlet Course at The Ohio State University Golf Club.

The Spartans have won the Lady Buckeye Invitational five times, most of any school outside of host Ohio State (12), including three times (2005, 2011, 2013) under head coach Stacy Slobodnik-Stoll.

Michigan State, which is seeking its 17th straight appearance in an NCAA Regional, is currently ranked 62nd by Golfstat and 65th by Golfweek. The Spartans are coming off a 10th-place showing at the Bryan National Collegiate (April 3-5) in Greensboro, North Carolina, in which they finished ahead of No. 11 Northwestern. MSU has played the 26th-most difficult schedule in the country.

"For us with this season, we're just going one step at a time," said Slobodnik-Stoll, with the Big Ten Championships looming next week (April 24-26) in Indianapolis at The Fort Golf Club. "We feel like we have some good momentum; the team is playing more like (assistant coach) Aimee (Neff) and I expected and want to. We're pretty encouraged. Ohio State is a great course, there's great history there, and we love going down there. We've haven't missed a Lady Buckeye since I've been the coach here; it's just a place we feel very comfortable at and where we've had a lot of success."

The Spartans will be able to bring six starters in the lineup for the Lady Buckeye Invitational, just like at the Big Ten Championships. Junior Gabby Yurik, who leads the team with a 75.67 scoring average and tied for eighth in her last tournament at the Bryan National Collegiate, will begin the tournament in the No. 1 position.

"Gabby is developing as a true student-athlete," remarked Slobodnik-Stoll. "She really is an incredible athlete. She loves competition, and that's evident in watching her play. She feels more comfortable in the role that she's taking on, as a leader on the team and as one of the better players on the team. It's just fun to watch her. I love her competitiveness."

The lineup will also feature three freshmen (Sarah Burnham, Katie Sharp, Jacqueline Setas), transfer Alison Knowles and senior Lindsey McPherson.

"We have to step back sometimes and just remember that we have a pretty new team here," said Slobodnik-Stoll, as the team makes a push for another run into the postseason. "We've had three freshmen in our lineup most of the year; last year we had three seniors playing. Teams evolve and they change.

"It's definitely been a big change year for us. There's a lot of remember who we are, where we came from, and where we're going. The tradition of excellence that this program has created in the past, since its beginning and what Mary Fossum created, there's just a lot of educational-type opportunities we're utilizing on a daily basis. It's fun - that's the enjoyment of coaching. Every year you have a different team, and it's finding out how to get the right mix, say the right things, or push the right buttons to get that team to perform. We brought them all here because we know they're capable of doing it.

"But I just feel so good about every player that is playing for us right now, and what she is capable of doing. The six of them are very capable of playing some incredible golf. I think now we're starting to put it all on the same page at the same time, which is really important. We need four good scores every time. We saw that in Greensboro a little bit (at the Bryan National Collegiate) in our last round. It's encouraging because it's all there, we just have to believe in ourselves."

Live scoring of the Lady Buckeye Invitational will be available at golfstat.com.

LADY BUCKEYE INVITATIONAL QUICK FACTS
Dates: April 18-19 (Saturday-Sunday)
Site: Columbus, Ohio
Course: Scarlet Course, The Ohio State University Golf Club
Format:Saturday - 8:30 a.m. shotgun start; Sunday - 8:30 a.m. tee times from No. 1 & 10; Play 6, count 4 Yards: 6,268
Par: 72
Participating Teams (12): Akron, Illinois, Indiana, Indianapolis, Iowa, Kansas State, Kent State, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Toledo
Live Scoring: www.golfstat.com