CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The Penn State women's golf team returns to action when they tee it up at The Biltmore Golf Course for the Hurricane Invitational on Monday morning. The two-day tournament will run through Tuesday morning with each day featuring an 8:00 a.m. shotgun start.
The Nittany Lions will head down to the Sunshine State a day early to get extra practice in at the par-72, 6,100-yard Biltmore Golf Course playing a round on Saturday before their tournament practice round on Sunday. The teams will then play 36-consecutive holes on Monday morning followed by an 18-hole final round on Tuesday.
LAST TIME OUT
- Penn State last competed nearly a month ago at the UCF Challenge finishing ninth in a strong field of 16 teams. The Nittany Lions had their lowerst 54-hole total of the season at 10-over, 874, including rounds of 2-over and 1-over to begin the tournament.
- Sophomore Sarah Willis (Eaton, Ohio) was Penn State's low player of the week finishing in a tie for 21st at 1-under, 215, opening the tournament with rounds of 2-under and 3-under. Freshman Mathilde Delavallade (Royan, France) continued her impressive season finishing the tournament 1-over and in a tie for 33rd.
- Freshman Isha Dhruva (Katy, Texas) replaced an injured Megan McLean (Lebanon, N.J.) and competed in her first collegiate tournament finishing 12-over. The rookie improved her score each round carding a career-low 2-over, 74, in the final round.
- The Nittany Lions finished ahead of fellow Big Ten foe No. 14 Illinois for the week.
THE FIELD
- A strong field of 13 teams features six in the top-50 Golfstat rankings led by No. 9 Arizona while No. 16 Oklahoma State, No. 26 Miami, No. 28 Oklahoma and No. 30 Illinois are all ranked inside the top-30 followed by No. 50 Michigan.
- Five Big Ten teams are in the field as the Nittany Lions are joined by the aforementioned Fighting Illini and Wolverines along with Maryland (No. 53) and Indiana (No. 62).
- TCU (No. 54), Texas State (No. 85), Middle Tennessee (No. 99) and Division II Barry round out the field for the Hurricane Invitational.
THE TEAM
- Penn State's lineup remains consistent from the fall with Willis, Delavallade, McLean, Herr and Zambruno while Isha Dhruva will compete as an individual.
- The extra day of practice on The Biltmore should be very beneficial to the team as only Herr and McLean have played the course before with Herr having a strong 12th-place finish back in 2017. McLean struggled in her lone trip to Coral Gables during her sophomore season averaging 8-over during her three rounds of competition in 2018.
- Penn State finished seventh during its 2017 and 2018 trips to the Hurricane Invitational but did not make the journey last season.
- Willis leads the team with a 72.60 stroke average in 15 rounds this season with two top-10 finished while Delavallade has average 73.00 and has a pair of top-10 finishes. Zambruno and McLean are close behind averaging 75.47 and 75.58, respectively.
Live scoring for the tournament are available HERE.
BIRDIES FOR THE HEART
- The Nittany Lions continue their Birdies for the Heart Campaign to help raise money for the Barbara Streisand Women's Heart Center. So far this season, Penn State has registered 194 birdies and look to build on that number moving forward.
- If interested in pledging please fill our THIS FORM or email head coach Denise St. Pierre at dxs10@psu.edu.
NEXT UP
- The Nittany Lions have a quick turnaround as they are right in the middle of a stretch with three tournaments in just 15 days next traveling to Gainesville for the Lady Gator Invitational next Saturday and Sunday.