ORLANDO, Fla. – Following a training trip to Orlando last weekend, the Penn State women's golf team will head back down to the Sunshine State for the UCF Challenge beginning on Saturday.
This marks the seventh-straight season Penn State has opened its spring slate at the UCF Challenge. All five Nittany Lions competing this weekend have familiarity with Eagle Creek with previous years' experience along with last weekend's training trip where the Nittany Lions played a pair of practice rounds on the tournament course. The course is a 6,367-yard, Par-72 that goes out in 35 and comes in at 37.
Due to an impending storm in Florida, the weekend schedule has been adjusted. Following a brief practice round on Saturday morning the teams will begin the first round a day early with a 12:15 p.m. shotgun start on Saturday afternoon. There will be no play on Sunday and Monday's shotgun start for the second round will be determined after the course conditions are evaluated following the storm. Tuesday's final round will be an 8:45 a.m. shotgun start.
Live scoring for the duration of the tournament will be available HERE.
OPPONENTS
- Three additional Big Ten squads will join the Nittany Lions in the loaded 18-team field this week as Michigan State, Northwestern and Nebraska will tee it up alongside Penn State.
- The host Knights are then joined by Virginia Tech, Miami, Kentucky, Texas Tech, Iowa State, Kansas, Old Dominion, North Texas, Kent State, UNC, UNC Wilmington, Central Arkansas and College of Charleston.
THE TEAM
- Penn State's lineup remains relatively consistent from the fall season as graduate students Mathilde Delavallade (Royan, France) and Carlota Garcia (Salamanca, Spain) are joined by junior classmates Drew Nienhaus (St. Louis, Mo.) and Michelle Cox (Allentown, Pa.) with senior Victoria Tip-Aucha slotting in to the final spot in the lineup for the opening tournament of the spring.
- Cox paces the team with a 71.67 stroke average and had a pair of top-10 finishes in the fall in four tournaments played while Nienhaus isn't far behind with a 72.58 stroke average in four events during the fall.
- Delavallade missed the first two tournaments of the season with injury and competed in the final two posting a 74.50 stroke average.
NEXT UP
Penn State will tee it up again in less than a week as they make a return trip to the Sunshine State for the Columbia Classic in Melbourne, Florida. The three round event will begin on Saturday morning and run through Monday, February 12.