UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – After a weekend off following its opening tournament of the 2019 fall season, Penn State is set to host the 43rd annual Nittany Lion Invitation at the Penn State Blue Course on Saturday, September 21 and Sunday, September 22.
LAST TIME OUT
- Penn State finished 15th at the 17-team Cougar Classic at Yeamans Hall in Hanahan, South Carolina. The Nittany Lions fired rounds of 299, 299 and 300 to finish the tournament 34-over par.
- Senior Megan McLean (Lebanon, N.J.) turned in three solid rounds firing 74,70 and 75 to finish tied for 37th with a 54-hole score of 3-over (219) while freshman Mathilde Delavallade (Royan, France) registered her best 18-hole score in her young career during the final round with a team low round score of 1-over, 73, and finished in a tie for 47th position at 5-over (221) for the week.
ABOUT THE NLI
- The first-ever Nittany Lion Invitational was played in 1974 with this weekend marking the 29th consecutive year the tournament has been held and the 21st year in-a-row during the fall season.
- Overall the tournament has been held in the fall 29 times while taking place during the spring season on 13 different occasions with the last being in 1999.
- Penn State has captured 22 tournament crowns including five of the last nine. The Nittany Lions earned the team championship in 2015 and 2016 and finished second to Maryland in 2017 before regaining its tournament crown last September.
- Penn State has had 14 individual medalists with the most recent being Sarah Willis last season with her tournament record 11-under (205) finish. Willis shot three sub-par rounds of 68, 70 and 67 at the Par-72 Blue Course and her 205 total was also a 54-hole Penn State school record.
- The Nittany Lions trailed by 11 shots entering the final five holes of the tournament and proceeded to go 9-under over that stretch to tie Washington for first place. Nittany Lion Ashni Dhruva, the fifth member of the team, finished one-stroke better than the Huskies fifth member to secure the tie-break victory.
- Penn State's final round score of 9-under, 279, is the second lowest 18-hole total in school history.
THE TEAM
- McLean and Delavallade will be joined in the starting five by senior Maddy Herr (New Hope, Pa.), junior Olivia Zambruno (Mt. Pleasant, Pa.) and Wills while redshirt-freshman Taylor Waller (Canonsburg, Pa.), senior Ashni Dhruva (Katy, Texas) and freshman Lauren Freyvogel (Gibsonia, Pa.) will compete as individuals.
THE FIELD
- 11 additional teams will descend on Happy Valley this weekend for the 43rd annual event with nine of those teams making a return trip from 2018.
- Akron, Bucknell, Georgetown, High Point, Ohio, Penn, Rutgers, Seton Hall, Navy and Youngstown State each competed last year with Rutgers and Seton Hall finishing third and fourth, respectively. Towson is the only team in the 2019 field who didn't compete last September.
- The teams will complete 36 continuous holes on Saturday with a 9 a.m. shotgun start before finishing the tournament with a single round on Sunday going off split tees with times beginning at 8 a.m.
800 STRONG AND TEAM ICA EVENT
- All student-athletes and ICA staff are encouraged to come out and show support on Sunday 12-2 p.m. when the action should be starting to heat up down the final stretch of holes. The award ceremony will follow after competition is completed.
BIRDIES FOR THE HEART
- For the third-straight year, the Nittany Lions continue their Birdies for the Heart Campaign to help raise money for the Barbara Streisand Women's Heart Center. Last season, Penn State totaled 456 birdies in 11 events.
- If interested in pledging please fill our THIS FORM or email head coach Denise St. Pierre at dxs10@psu.edu.
NEXT UP
Penn State has a quick turnaround as they head to Kentucky next Friday through Sunday for the Bettie Lou Evans Invitational, an event they finished second in last season.