ISU women’s golf heads to Illinois for Lady Northern Invitational

Dan Martin

The ISU women’s golf team is traveling to Glencoe, Ill., to compete in the annual Lady Northern Invitational. The 54-hole tournament runs Monday and Tuesday.

The Cyclones are looking to top their fifth-place finish at the Lady Northern Invitational last year. It will be the fourth tournament of the year for the Cyclones.

The field will consist of 12 teams. Northwestern is hosting the tournament at Lake Shore Country Club, a 6,303-yard, par-72 course.

Texas Tech is the only Big 12 Conference opponent for the Cyclones. Ten of the 11 teams from the Big Ten will be present.

The Cyclones are ranked 32nd nationally following two second-place finishes and one fourth-place finish in the season’s opening three tournaments.

The toughest competition will likely come from Purdue, who has won the tournament the past two years. Purdue is ranked sixth nationally and has five golfers ranked in the top 90.

The Cyclones know what to expect from the Boilermakers after last week’s Collegiate Classic Invitational. Purdue took first at the tournament, edging out the second-place Cyclones by seven strokes.

Iowa State is also ready to compete against its in-state rival, the Iowa Hawkeyes.

“Obviously every time we play the Hawkeyes it’s going to be exciting,” said coach Christie Martens.

“Unlike other sports, it’s not a head-to-head competition because we will be playing against the whole field. I hope we can play well in the tournament, and hopefully that includes beating the Hawkeyes.”

Other teams competing in the Invitational will be Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, No. 39 Minnesota, No. 48 Northwestern, No. 21 Ohio State, Penn State, Texas Tech and Wisconsin.

The Cyclones are bringing true freshman Prima Thammaraks, sophomore Punpaka Phuntumabamrung, freshman Sasikarn On-iam, senior Victoria Stefansen, senior Laurence Herman and junior Kristin Paulson to the tournament, and the four lowest player scores will be counted toward the team total.

Phuntumabamrung has proven herself to be one of the top golfers at the collegiate level, and Thammaraks is coming off a second-place finish at last week’s Windy City Collegiate Classic Invitational.

The Lady Northern Invitational will kick off with a shotgun start at 8:30 a.m. Monday. The final round will commence at 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday.