Northwestern University Athletics
No. 13 'Cats Take Aim At 2015 Big Ten Championships
4/23/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
| Northwestern Women's Golf |
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| 2015 Big Ten Championships |
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| Date | Friday, April 24 -- Sunday, April 26 |
| Location | The Fort Golf Resort | Indianapolis, Ind. |
| Layout | Par 72 • 6,221 yards |
| Live Results | Golfstat.com |
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- No. 13 Northwestern tees off at the 2015 Big Ten Women's Golf Championships on Friday, April 26, at The Fort Golf Resort. The Wildcats enter the three-day competition aiming to reclaim the team title earned in 2013, when they set a tournament scoring record in the process.
Head coach Emily Fletcher will start a Championship lineup that includes senior Hana Lee, juniors Kaitlin Park and Suchaya Tangkamolprasert, sophomore Kacie Komoto and freshmen Sarah Cho and Hanna Kim. Lee was the `Cats top individual at last season's event, finishing third, and is one of nine of last year's Top-15 individuals returning this year.
"The team had a very solid week of preparation and they are excited to get going this week," Fletcher told NUSports.com. "I am encouraged by what I have seen from all six this week. This is a unique opportunity for us to play six and count four, and I really do love our strength one through six."
The championships begin Friday, with first-round action starting at 7:30 a.m. CT. Saturday's second round will also tee off at C:30 a.m., while Sunday's third round will begin at 7 a.m.
The field includes all 14 Big Ten schools, three of which are ranked among the top 50 according to the latest Golfweek/Sagarin national rankings. Northwestern leads the way at No. 13, followed by No. 36 Ohio State and No. 39 Purdue.
"I think [the team is] well aware of our position," said Fletcher. "However, we've talked about the importance of controlling our own destiny by going out and being the best we can be, and not trying to control the outcome of the field."
Thursday's practice round was the `Cats first look at Indianapolis' The Fort Golf Resort, which will host the 2015 and 2016 Big Ten Women's Golf Championships. The Pete Dye designed course is a 6,221-yard, par-72, challenge that has withstood a good amount of rain this week leading up to the event.
Northwestern finished fifth at the Silverado Showdown last weekend in their final regular-season event of the year, paced by Suchaya Tangkamolprasert's third-place result, and Kacie Komoto in fifth. Hannah Kim leads the `Cats this year with a 73.48 scoring average that, if the season ended today, would be the best single-season mark in program history. Tangkamolprasert (73.72) and Komoto (74.08) rank second and third on the team, respectively, in scoring with marks that would place them in the same positions on the program's single-season leaderboard.
Head coach Emily Fletcher has seen her entire roster improve during the course of a season she feels has prepared them for the challenge this weekend. "I have seen their short games improve significantly," she said. "We won twice this year, and were in the hunt numerous times as well, which I think has allowed the group to get more comfortable playing under pressure. They seem to have grasped that it doesn't have to be perfect for it to be functional and still allow them to score well, which keeps them from putting undue pressure on themselves."
Big Ten Network will air tape-delayed coverage of the 2015 Big Ten Golf Championships on Wednesday, May 6, at 6 p.m. CT.
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