Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
Falcon Invitational
BGSU Hosts Falcon Invitational This Weekend
April 14, 2011 | Women's Golf
Special Announcement Anticipated On Saturday Evening
A season's worth of work and effort has dwindled down to two tournaments for the Bowling Green State University women's golf team. The first occurs this weekend when the Orange and Brown host the 2011 Falcon Invitational on Saturday and Sunday (April 16-17) at Bowling Green's Stone Ridge Golf Club.
This represents the fifth consecutive year that the Falcon Invitational has been held in the spring and at Stone Ridge. In that time, the Falcons have been very competitive on their home turf, never finishing worse than seventh in any of the four events. They have two top-three finishes in the last three years, including a tournament championship in 2008.
In that year, Bowling Green set tournament records for best first round team score (315) and individual score (75, Lauren Glew), as well as best 54-hole team score (946).
The tournament has also hosted several scintillating finishes, whether it be a two-way tie for first in 2008 between BGSU's Carley Hrusovsky and Jessica McCann or a three-way tie in 2009 that led to a three-hole playoff.
Over the years, the tournament has changed slightly; in 2007 and 2008, the teams played 54 holes. Since then, the tournament is 36 holes, and it continues in that format this year. The course has also shortened. In 2007, teams faced a 6,157 yard course. This year, Stone Ridge will play to a length of 5,822 yards.
Twelve teams join the Falcons at Stone Ridge this year, eight of whom have played in the tournament previously. Those teams include Cleveland State, Detroit Mercy, Niagara, Northern Illinois, Ohio, Valparaiso, Western Michigan and Youngstown State.
Four teams – Akron, Chicago State, Dayton and St. Francis (Pa.) – will be participating in the Falcon Invitational for the first time.
A total of five MAC schools, including Bowling Green, will be competing this weekend. This provides a big measuring stick for each team, as the conference tournament awaits in one week.
For the Falcons, all seven team members will compete. Five will play as the official team, while the two others compete individually.
Bailey Arnold plays in the first spot. Arnold leads the team with a 79.69 scoring average and is coming off of her best finish as a Falcon, as she tied for seventh at last weekend's EKU Lady Colonel Classic.
Lauren and Marisa Glew are positioned as the second and fourth members of the lineup. The senior co-captains each provide a veteran presence on the course and were on the team in 2008 when the Falcons won the tournament. Lauren is second on the team in scoring average and is coming off of an Eastern Kentucky tournament where she earned her second top-20 finish of the season.
Amy Ruthenberg (third) and Kelsey Benson (fifth) round out the five-person team. Ruthenberg is the only Falcon golfer to play in all 18 rounds this season, and she has shown flashes of brilliance. Ruthenberg has seven sub-80 rounds this year and owned an average of just over 78 early in the season. At Eastern Kentucky, she scored 237 overall, including a final round 76.
Benson is playing in her second consecutive tournament; after starting the weekend at EKU with an 86, she responded with two of her best rounds of 2010-11 and finished with a 54-hole score of 253.
Paula DiFrancesco and Jen Blanchard will compete as individuals. DiFrancesco, like Ruthenberg, has had great moments this season. At EKU, she played her best golf since last fall and scored 249 on rounds of 84, 82 and 83. Last September, at the 36-hole Great Smokies Intercollegiate, she posted a sterling 153 (75-78).
Meanwhile, for Blanchard, this will be her first tournament action of the season. She also competed at the Spring Challenge Cup match play event versus Ohio.
Tournament play begins on Saturday at 10:00 a.m. with a shotgun start. Official starting places will be determined on Friday night, and the teams will play 18 holes on the first day. The final round of 18 begins on Sunday at 9:00 a.m., with staggered tee times off of holes 1 and 10. Those times are determined after Saturday's play.
Results will be posted to BGSUFalcons.com after conclusion of play on both days.
The BGSU women's golf team will also make a special announcement about the future of the Falcon Invitational on Saturday evening; full details about the announcement, including video, will also be available on BGSUFalcons.com.