IOWA CITY, Iowa — THIS WEEK
The University of Iowa women’s golf team will open its 2012 fall season with the Chip-N-Club Invitational in Lincoln, Nebraska. The 54-hole tournament will be held at The Country Club of Lincoln, a 6,186 yard, par 72 course in Lincoln, Nebraska. Monday (36-holes) will begin with a shotgun start at 9 a.m. (CT) and Tuesday (18-holes) will begin at 8:30 a.m. (CT). Live scoring will be available at GolfStat.com.
QUOTING HEAD COACH Megan Menzel
“The team has been working really hard all summer. This has been the best week of practice that we’ve had since I’ve been coaching at Iowa. We have a very focused group and I expect them to bring that level of focus to the tournament this weekend.”
THE LINE-UP
The lineup (in playing order) for this weekend includes Kristi Cardwell, Shelby Phillips, Gigi DiGrazia, Lauren English and Briana Midkiff. Karly Grouwinkel will compete as an individual.
THE COMPETITION
The Hawkeyes will compete against 13 teams: Creighton, Houston Baptist, Kansas State, Missouri, Missouri State, Nebraska, Nebraska-Omaha, North Dakota State, SMU, South Dakota, Wichita State, and Xavier.
TOURNAMENT HISTORY
The Country Club of Lincoln will serve as the Chip-N Club Invitational host in 2012. The Chip-N Club, the official athletic booster group of the University of Nebraska women’s golf team, helps to organize and host the annual Chip-N Club Invitational. SMU won the previous Chip-N-Club invitational and we return to defend their title. The Hawkeyes placed third last year in the Chip-N-Club Invitational.
CARDWELL WINS PROFFESSIONAL EVENT
Senior Kristi Cardwell had a strong junior campaign, playing 32 rounds with a 77.13 stroke average. Cardwell carried that momentum into the summer and won her first professional event. Cardwell bested the field of 100 players, including a few professionals, by one stroke in the Pepsi Indiana PGA Women’s Open at Hickory Stick Golf Club on July, 3.
DIGRAZIA EARNS SCHOLASTIC HONOR
DiGrazia not only brings senior leadership on the course, but off the course as well. DiGrazia recently earned the Big Ten Distinguished Scholar award in Human Physiology for her previous academic term. To be eligible for an Academic All-Big Ten selection, student-athletes must be letterwinners in at least their second academic year at their institution and carry a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or better.