Falcons Head West for the Diane Thomason Invitational, Sept. 12-13

Saturday, September 12

Iowa City, Iowa

All Day

Bowling Green State University

Diane Thomason Invitational

Photo by: BGSU Strategic Communications

Falcons Head West for the Diane Thomason Invitational, Sept. 12-13

September 10, 2015 | Women's Golf

By: by Kevin Davis, Assistant Director for Athletic Communications

Live Scoring at www.Golfstat.com

Bowling Green, Ohio – Coming off a season opening first-place team win at the 2015 Redbird Invitational over Labor Day weekend, Sept. 6-7, in which the Falcons as a team posted the second-best 18-hole team score (293) on the final round of play and the second-best 54-hole tournament team score (905) in the program's history, BGSU will now head west to take part in the Diane Thomason Invitational on Sept. 12-13 hosted by the University of Iowa.

"This is a packed week with the quick turnaround from Illinois State to Iowa. We have great momentum coming off a win, but the team's focus now is solely on what is ahead," commented head coach Stephanie Young. "The trip and tournament will require toughness both physically and mentally."

Held at the par 72, 6,158 yards Finkbine Golf Course in Iowa City, Iowa, the 54-hole tournament will begin with an 8:30 a.m. (CT) shotgun start Saturday (36 holes) and is set to conclude with an 8:30 a.m. shotgun start Sunday (18 holes).

This year's tournament field includes 12 teams in Iowa, Bradley, Boston, Bowling Green, Delaware, Harvard, Missouri State, North Florida, Northern Illinois, Rutgers, South Dakota State, and Wichita State.

Coach Young will send out the same lineup for the Falcons as she did for the season opening event at the Redbird Invitational in Erin Fahey, Hannah Lewis, Fran Rodriguez, Lily Bartell and Mikayla Baer.

Fahey, who is playing in just her second event for the Falcons, saved her best for last in her first-ever intercollegiate tournament last weekend with a final round of 72, even par, to help push the Falcons to the team victory. In her first event for the Orange and Brown, the freshman registered rounds of 83, 79 and 72 to place in a tie for 29th-place overall with her 54-hole score of 234, +18.

Lewis finished just out of the top-15 with a 16th-place finish overall with her 54-hole score of 230, +14, at the 2015 Redbird Invitational. With her rounds of 75, 75 and 80, Lewis matched her career-low 54-hole score of 230 which she set with identical scores at the Redbird Invitational in 2013.

Rodriguez finished the season opening event on Sept. 6-7 the way she started, matching her career-low round of 73, +1, to finish in fifth-place overall. The junior turned in rounds of 73, 75 and 73 to finish with a 54-hole score of 224, +8, a career-best as a Falcon. Rodriguez totaled eight birdies and 31 pars over the three round event and finished second overall in the entire tournament field with a par 4 scoring average of 4.07, +2.

Bartell, who carded a BGSU low round 72, even par, over the second round of play at the Redbird Invitational, tallied a final round 77, +5, on Monday to finish in a tie for 17th-place overall for the two-day event. The senior carded rounds of 82, 72 and 77 to finish the season opening tournament with a 54-hole score of 231, +15.

Baer will look to continue her strong play this weekend, as the junior had a career day over the final round of play at the Redbird Invitational with a career-low round of 71, -1 under par. She shot rounds of 78, 79 and 71 to finish in a tie for ninth-place overall with her 54-hole score of 228, +12. Baer matched Rodriguez with a team-high eight birdies and led the entire tournament field with a par 4 scoring average of 3.90, -3 under par. The junior's round of 71 is tied for the eighth lowest 18-hole score in BGSU history and is the lowest 18-hole score by a Falcon since fellow teammate Lily Bartell carded a round of 69 in 2013-14.

"Our game plan will remain the same- which is to play our best against the course. We will set our strategy up during the practice round and then continue to execute that one shot at a time over the three rounds," Young continued. "We are grateful to have the opportunity to play in Iowa City this fall and look forward to competing at Finkbine, which is Iowa's home course."

Live scoring will be available for the three rounds of play at www.Golfstat.com. (Click Here)

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