SIU Women's Golf prepares for MSU Invitational
09/13/2015 | 12:00:00 | Women's Golf
By Rico Cruz
SIUSalukis.com
CARBONDALE, Ill. - After course conditions forced a change of venue for the MSU Invitational, Southern Illinois women's golf is set to open the tournament on Monday at the Miller Memorial Golf Course in Murray, Ky. The two-day tournament was originally scheduled to be contested at the Drake Creek Golf Course in Ledbetter, Ky. Monday's play will begin at 11 a.m. with 18 holes scheduled to be played, while Tuesday will start at 10 a.m. with 18 holes set to be played.
SIU will look to defend their title at the tournament after winning a four-hole playoff last season against host school Murray State.
"We were excited to play Drake Creek and defend our team victory there," head coach Alexis Mihelich said. "The players really enjoyed that course and we were very confident playing that track. The course wasn't in tournament condition so it's disappointing to change the venue for the tournament. At the end of the day, we just want to get out there and play. This is a competitive squad and you can put them on any course and they will play their best and do what they can to win."
Southern opened the season with a seventh-place finish at the Redbird Invitational last week. Brooke Cusumano led all Saluki golfers, finishing tied for 14th after carding rounds of 77-79-73 over the two-day tournament. Cusumano's round of 73 on the final day was the lowest for SIU in the tournament. Competing as an individual at the Redbird Invitational, Xianmei Jin earned a top-20 finish, ending the tournament with rounds of 77-75-79 to finish tied for 17th.
"Three players in the line-up played this course in the spring of 2014," Mihelich said. "They are familiar with it and it's very scoreable. With the first tournament jitters out of the way, I think that if we are patient and let the birdies come to us, we will be successful this week."
Other schools set to compete this week are Murray State, Austin Peay, Belmont, Eastern Illinois, SIUE, Tennessee Tech, Tennessee State, Cumberlands, Indiana State, IPFW, Marshall and Lipscomb.
A recap will be available after each day of competition.
Players Mentioned
