Live Scoring
NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State women's golf team tees off its 2016-17 season Sunday morning when it hosts the 14-team Redbird Invitational at Weibring Golf Club. The course is set to play as a par-72, with a total of 6,090 yards.
The teams are slated to play 36 holes Sunday, starting with an 8:30 a.m. shotgun start, before playing the final 18 holes Labor Day morning at 8:30 a.m. Live scoring will be available throughout the tournament at BirdieFire.com.
The Redbirds are one of six Missouri Valley Conference schools competing in the event. Joining ISU in the field is Ball State, Boston College, Bowling Green, Bradley, Butler, Drake, Evansville, Florida Gulf Coast, Loyola-Chicago, Northern Illinois, Ohio, Southern Illinois and Western Illinois. Overall, 80 student-athletes are participating, and 10 will only be competing as individuals.
Teams are constructed with five student-athletes, and only the top-four scores count towards the school's overall total in each round.
The entire eight-member Redbird squad will have the opportunity to play. The ISU team is be represented by junior Kiley Walsh, senior Renee Solberg, junior Abby Luchtenburg, sophomore Caitlin Sims and freshman Paige Seiser.
Senior Maggie Ambrose, sophomore Leia Atas and freshman Morgan Savage will be competing as individuals for the Redbirds.
Walsh is ISU's top-returning student-athlete on the links. She wrapped up a successful sophomore season by earning All-MVC accolades, after finishing in a ninth-place tie at the 2016 MVC Championship. She was also voted a First Team All-MVC Women's Golf Scholar-Athlete and named a Women's Golf Coaches Association All-American Scholar.
Ambrose, Solberg, Luchtenburg and Sims were also selected as WGCA All-American Scholars. The quintet was part of the 828-member All-American Scholar Team, as the student-athletes must achieve a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.50. Solberg was also an Honorable Mention All-MVC Women's Golf Scholar-Athlete.
As a team last season, the Redbirds compiled the second-highest grade-point average in the nation at 3.862, which was the best Division I women's golf GPA in the country.
After this weekend, ISU returns to action Sept. 12-13 when it travels to Springfield, Missouri, to play in Missouri State's MSU/Payne Stewart Memorial at Twin Oaks Country Club.
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