Northwestern University and Evanston's Only Daily News Source Since 1881

The Daily Northwestern

37° Evanston, IL
Northwestern University and Evanston's Only Daily News Source Since 1881

The Daily Northwestern

Northwestern University and Evanston's Only Daily News Source Since 1881

The Daily Northwestern

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NU looking to buck current rough stretch (Women’s golf)

With the Big Ten Championships set to tee off at the end of the month, the Northwestern women’s golf team will use this weekend’s Lady Buckeye Invitational as a final tune-up after taking three weeks off from tournament competition.

The tournament is normally held at Ohio State’s Scarlet Course, but the course is currently undergoing renovation and will not be ready for at least another month.

Instead, the championships will be played at the Golf Club of Dublin, a course none of the teams in the field are familiar with.

“I think the new setting will help even the playing field, since the Scarlet Course has become a regular stop on many teams’ schedules,” junior captain Heather Scholten said. “We have only good things to gain from playing consistently this week.”

The field features 14 teams, six of which are ranked in the top 25. Nine of the 11 Big Ten schools are competing in the event, with Michigan and Iowa the two missing teams.

The field also includes several Southern teams such as Auburn, Florida, Georgia State and LSU. When those teams committed to play the Lady Buckeye Invitational, the event was still scheduled to take place at the Scarlet Course, which is also the site of this year’s NCAA Championships in late May.

As a result, those teams that were expecting to get some experience on that course will come away empty handed.

“It’s really advantageous for us not to have the tournament at the Scarlet Course,” coach Chris Regenberg said. “The teams that are up from the South won’t get a chance to play the course before the Nationals. We already know that course, and they don’t.”

The Cats have had nearly three weeks since their last tournament action, a disappointing 12th-place finish at their very own Northwestern Invitational.

During that time, the players have focused on their individual needs to help their games improve before the Big Ten Championships. The players revisited the drills and challenges that helped them improve during the offseason.

“I think it has been a good few weeks to tidy up our games and have some good individualized practices,” Regenberg said. “We got the chance to get some rest, and now everybody is ready to go, we are energized, and our games are in a good place mechanically. The timing of the break was excellent.”

With a spot in the NCAA Regionals most likely secured and all of the players feeling good about their games, the Cats are looking at the tournament as a final tune-up before postseason play.

The tournament also gives the Cats the opportunity to gauge themselves against other teams that they don’t normally see. Nevertheless, the team is feeling confident about the upcoming tournament.

“As a team, I think a top-five finish would be great, if not higher,” Scholten said, who has two top-15 finishes in her last three events. “All five players have made significant improvements this winter and spring, and it’s only a matter of time before we all play well together. When that happens, our team score will drop dramatically, putting us in good shape for a strong tournament.”

Reach Michael Schlossberg at [email protected].

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Northwestern University and Evanston's Only Daily News Source Since 1881
NU looking to buck current rough stretch (Women’s golf)