Falcons Set to Tee-Off 2015 Fall Slate on Labor Day Weekend

Sunday, September 6

Normal, Ill.

All Day

Bowling Green State University

Redbird Invitational

Photo by: BGSU Strategic Communications

September 04, 2015 | Women's Golf

By: by Kevin Davis, Assistant Director for Athletic Communications

Live Scoring at www.BirdieFire.com

Bowling Green, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University women's golf team will tee-off its 2015 fall season on Labor Day weekend, Sept. 6-7, at the Redbird Invitational hosted by Illinois State University at the Weibring Golf Club in Normal, Ill.

This weekend's season opener will mark the fifth straight year in which the BGSU women's golf team will open up its fall slate at the Redbird Invitational. The Falcons took second-place overall at the Redbird Invitational in 2012 and third-place in 2013.

"We are all excited to begin competition for the 2015-16 season. Illinois State always provides a great test of golf and a strong field of teams," commented head coach Stephanie Young. "The goal is for us to play our game against the golf course and take it one hole at a time. Our lineup has a mix of experience and we look forward to seeing how they work together."

This year's tournament field will include a total of 16 teams in BGSU, Illinois State, Bradley, Ball State, Butler, Boston College, Creighton, Evansville, Drake, Northern Iowa, Northern Illinois, Western Illinois, Southern Illinois, Ohio, Oakland and Loyola (Chicago).

The two-day event will include a total of 54 holes of play with two rounds of play on Sunday, Sept. 6, and a third and final round of 18 holes scheduled for a shotgun start on Monday, Sept. 7.

The Falcons will send out an experienced lineup led by a newcomer in Erin Fahey. Joining the freshman in the lineup for the season opening event will be senior Hannah Lewis, junior Fran Rodriguez, senior Lily Bartell and junior Mikayla Baer.

Fahey, who will be making her BGSU and intercollegiate debut at the Redbird Invitational on Sept. 6-7, comes to the Falcons from Vanedgrift High School in Austin, Texas where she led her team to become back-to-back state qualifiers in both 2014 and 2013. Named to the First-Team All-Conference Team and to both the Second-Team All-State and Second-Team All-Region teams in 2014, she guided her team to a 2014 District Championship and a second-place finish at the 2014 Regional Championship.

One of four seniors on the team, Lewis will look to wrap up her Falcon career on a high note in 2015-16. Last season as a junior, Lewis recorded a stroke average of 80.15 over 10 events and a total of 20 rounds of play on the year. She carded a low round of 72 at both the Cardinal Classic and the Golden Grizzlies Invitational and went on to go 2-1-0 at the Women's Mid-American Match Play Challenge. This weekend, the Michigan native will be playing in her fourth Redbird Invitational event. She has turned in 54-hole scores of 236 (2012), 230 (2013) and 237 (2014) at the season opening tournament, and finished as high as 22nd overall in 2013.

Rodriguez came on strong for the Falcons last season in her sophomore campaign, making huge strides from her freshman year in 2013-14. In her second year at BGSU in 2014-15, Rodriguez posted a stroke average of 79.27 overall on the season and recorded four top-25 place finishes. She was the top Falcon golfer at the Cardinal Classic with a 36-hole score of 147, +3, and finished in third-place overall at both the Jon P. Spiess Memorial (79) and at the Cardinal Classic (74-73). The junior will be teeing-off for the first time at the Redbird Invitational this weekend.

Like Lewis, Bartell will attempt to get off to a strong start to her final season as a Falcon this Labor Day weekend. Last year, Bartell turned in a stroke average of 80.15 on the season over 10 events for the Falcons carding a low round 74 at the Rocket Classic and at the Rio Verde Invitational. The senior posted three top-25 place finishes overall and went a perfect 3-0-0 at the Women's Mid-American Match Play Challenge event in Feb. 2015. The lone Falcon on the roster with an intercollegiate tournament win to her name, Bartell will be making her fourth straight appearance at the Redbird Invitational in 2015. She registered a second-place finish with a 54-hole score of 216, +4, which included rounds of 69, 71 and 76, at the 2013 Redbird Invitational.

Looking to build on a strong sophomore season in 2014-15, Baer will round out the lineup for the Falcons in the 2015 fall opener this weekend. Baer, who turned in a stroke average of 79.07 on the season, carded a low round 74 three times last year. She recorded seven top-25 place finishes, including a second-place finish at the Jon P. Spiess Memorial and a third-place showing at the rain shortened EKU Colonel Classic. Baer also posted a fifth-place finish at the Dolores Black Falcon Invitational with a score of 150, +6, with rounds of 74 and 76. The junior finished in a tie for 27th-place overall at the 2013 Redbird Invitational with a 54-hole score of 232 in her intercollegiate debut.

The tournament host in Illinois State will look to defend its team championship having won the 2014 Redbird Invitational with a combined three-round team score of 910, +46.

Live scoring for all three rounds of play will be available at: https://www.birdiefire.com/tournament/11921/

###