Sept. 23, 2016
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- The Penn State women's golf team hosts the 40th annual Nittany Lion Invitational Saturday and Sunday. The Lions come in as defending champions, capturing their 20th title last year.
The tournament will be played on the Penn State Blue Course, with 36 holes being played on Saturday, followed by the 18-hole championship round on Sunday with free admission both days.
Penn State had lots of success at their home tournament last year, leading wire-to-wire with a final score of 889. All four players' scores that counted for the team, finished in the top ten on the player leaderboard, with the highest being a second place finish by Jackie Rogowicz (Yardley, Pa.).
Three of those four players, are on the team again this year, while seven players total on the roster have competed in the Nittany Lion Invitational in the past.
Nine teams will be competing in this year's field. Delaware, William & Mary, and Rutgers all competed in the tournament last year, while the new schools added are Yale, Bucknell, Oklahoma City University, Richmond, and Columbia.
Head coach Denise St. Pierre will be going with the same starting lineup as she did in last week's East & West Match Play tournament. That young, talented lineup again consists of three sophomores Lauren Waller (Canonsburg, Pa.), Jackie Rogowicz (Yardley, Pa.) and Cara Basso (Downingtown, Pa.) and two newcomers, Maddy Herr (New Hope, Pa.) and Ashni Dhruva (Katy, Texas).
Four out of the five starters are from Pennsylvania, and get a chance to play close to friends and family in their only home tournament of the season. Penn State will also have five players competing as individuals, so everybody on the roster will have the opportunity to compete.
The Nittany Lions also welcome a new member into the golf family, Katie Futcher. Futcher is a volunteer coach this year and will be alongside Head coach Denise St. Pierre and assistant coach Andrew Breon.
The tournament gets underway tomorrow with a shotgun start at 9 a.m. Come out and support your Lions, who are seeking their 21st title at the Nittany Lion Invitational!
Live scoring will be available through Golfstat.com.