Michigan State University Athletics
Spartans Close Regular Season at Lady Buckeye Invitational
4/15/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
EAST LANSING, Mich. â€" The Michigan State women's golf team will compete in its final tune up before the Big Ten Championships at the Lady Buckeye Invitational this weekend (Friday-Saturday, April 16-17) in Columbus, Ohio. The 36th annual tournament is being held at the par 72, 6,319-yard Scarlet Course at The Ohio State University Golf Club.
The 12-team tournament will feature seven Big Ten teams. In addition to host Ohio State, Augusta, Illinois, Indiana, Indianapolis, Iowa, Kent State, Maryland, MSU, Rutgers, Seton Hall and Toledo will be participating.
The Spartans have won the Lady Buckeye Invitational five times, most of any school outside of host Ohio State (15), including three times (2005, 2011, 2013) under head coach Stacy Slobodnik-Stoll.
Michigan State is currently ranked No. 42 by Golfstat and No. 41 by Golfweek as it seeks to return to the NCAA Regionals for the 17th time in the last 18 years. The Spartans narrowly missed the postseason as a team last spring, but are in good position to make regionals this year, especially following their third-place showing in their last tournament at the Clemson Invitational.
"After Clemson, we're all feeling pretty good," said Slobodnik-Stoll. "That was a very exciting tournament to be a part of. It was Clemson's inaugural event, we went to a Lee Brice concert, and we stayed with amazing host families. We're all feeling really good about what we're doing.
"We always look forward going to Columbus. We've had so many great memories from there, whether it's NCAA Regionals we've played there and qualified for nationals, or winning the Lady Buckeye, it's been great."
The Spartans will be able to bring six starters in the lineup for the Lady Buckeye Invitational, just like at the Big Ten Championships. Leading the way is sophomore Sarah Burnham, who continues to pace the team with a 72.75 scoring average.
Redshirt sophomore Katie Sharp, who is coming off a victory in the Clemson Invitational, ranks second on the team with a 74.63 average, an improvement of 2.51 strokes (77.14) from her first season in the lineup. She was named the Big Ten Golfer of the Week after shooting a career-low 208 (-8) at Clemson, tied for the second-lowest 54-hole score in program history.
"I just can't tell you how rewarding it is," said Slobodnik-Stoll regarding Sharp's development. "Seeing her with the trophy and winning was great. To see a young person who has gone from redshirting, to seeing her work as hard as she does and believe in herself, to not only grow as a golfer, but for me, almost more enjoyable is how much she's grown as a person here."
The lineup will also feature seniors Alison Knowles and Gabby Yurik, sophomore Jacqueline Setas, and freshman Carolyn Markley.
Live scoring of the Lady Buckeye Invitational will be available at golfstat.com.
The 2016 Big Ten Championships will be held April 22-24 (Friday-Sunday) at The Fort Golf Resort in Indianapolis.
LADY BUCKEYE INVITATIONAL QUICK FACTS
Dates: April 16-17 (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): Augusta, Illinois, Indiana, Indianapolis, Iowa, Kent State, Maryland, Michigan State, Ohio State, Rutgers, Seton Hall, Toledo
Live Scoring: www.golfstat.com
