The Illinois State womens golf team travels to Bloomington, Indiana, this weekend, April 5-6, to participate in the Indiana University Invitational. The tournament boasts a field of teams which are all ranked in the top 100 nationally.
The Birds, who are ranked 95th nationally, will be competing against No. 22 Purdue, No. 33 Kent State, host school, No. 34 Indiana, and No. 42 Missouri. Other top-100 teams include Wisconsin (58), defending tournament champion, Michigan (60), Arkansas-Little Rock (68), Minnesota (90), Iowa (91), Notre Dame (97).
ISU head coach
Ray Kralis welcomes the opportunity.
We definitely welcome this type of challenge and look forward to the tournament so we can showcase our talent, said Kralis. I like the competitiveness of the field because the chance to go head-to-head with the top teams in the Midwest makes us better as a team.
This years tournament will be played at the Indiana University Golf Course, which will be setup at 6,134 yards and a par of 74.
Play will begin on Saturday, April 5, with a shotgun start at 8:00 a.m.,. with the teams playing 36 holes. The tournament will continue on Sunday, April 6, at 8:30 a.m., also with a shotgun start, with the final 18 holes being played, wrapping up the 56-hole invite. The playing format for the IU Invitational is six players per team competing with the four lowest scored recorded as the team score.
Kralis looks at the IU Invitational as a chance for the team to better itself going into the Missouri Valley Conference Championship.
We will be playing at a higher level as we enter the MVC Championship, following the IU Invite, Kralis said. We are going into this tournament well prepared, and we expect good things to happen.
