NAPLES, Fla. – The Penn State women's golf team returns to competitive action this weekend as they travel to the Sunshine State for a pair of match play events against the University of Minnesota on Saturday and Sunday.
FALL RECAP
- The Nittany Lions competed in four events during the fall semester securing a pair of top-10 finishes earning second at their home invitational followed by a third place finish at the Bettie Lou Evans Invitational.
- Penn State averaged 295.67 as a team led by sophomore Sarah Willis (Eaton, Ohio) who paced the team with a 73.00 stroke average and a pair of top-10 finishes. Willis and freshman Mathilde Delavallade (Royan, France) each carded one round of 3-under (69) to tie for the low round of the fall as Delavallade joined Willis with a pair of top-10 finishes averaging 73.17 per 18 holes.
- Willis tied for second at the Bettie Lou Evans Invitational as Penn State's top individual finisher this year while Delavallade tied for eighth at the same tournament a week after tying for eighth at the Nittany Lion Invitational with teammate Olivia Zambruno (Mt. Pleasant, Pa.).
- Zambruno averaged 75.58 strokes per round competing in all four events during the fall.
COURSE INFORMATION
- The Nittany Lions and Golden Gophers will faceoff at a pair of courses in Naples, Florida competing in six one-on-one matches each day.
- On Saturday the teams will compete at Quail Run Golf Club, a par-70, 5,304-yard course featuring six par-3's, eight par-4's and four par-5's. Competition is set to begin at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday afternoon.
- The following day the teams will move to Bay Colony Golf Club, a par-72, 6,303-yard course featuring your more standard four par-3's, 10 par-4's and four par-5's. Competition will begin around 8:30 a.m. on Sunday morning.
SCOUTING MINNESOTA
- The Gophers competed in four events during the fall with their best finish coming at their home invitational finishing 11th.
- Minnesota averaged 303.45 during 11 rounds of competition over the fall with Kate Lillie leading the Gophers with a 75.18 stroke average and the lone top-20 finish for Minnesota during the fall coming at her home invitational where she finished tied for 11th at 1-over.
- The Gophers have zero seniors on their 2019-20 roster of 10 players and only Lillie, Joanne Free and Grace Curran competed in all four tournaments in the fall.
THE TEAM
- Penn State's lineup remains consistent from the fall with Willis, Delavallade, and Zambruno being joined by senior classmates Megan McLean (Lebanon, N.J.) and Maddy Herr (New Hope, Pa.) while freshman Isha Dhruva (Katy, Texas) will make her Nittany Lion debut after battling injuries during the fall season.
- Matchups will be determined prior to Saturday's match and could change for Sunday.
NEXT UP
- The Nittany Lions turn right back around and head to Florida next week as they will participate in the UCF Challenge in Orlando on Sunday through Tuesday.