CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Penn State women's golf team is looking to build off a strong performance at the Nittany Lion Invitational as they travel to the Cavalier Regional Preview on Monday and Tuesday
The tournament will feature 36 holes on Monday with a shotgun start slated for 8:30 a.m. with Tuesday’s final round featuring tee times off one and 10 with times beginning at 8 a.m.
Live scoring for the event can be found HERE.
HOMECOMING
Kristen Simpson returns to her Alma Mater as a head coach for the first time ever this week for the Cavalier Regional Preview. Simpson is a native of Norfolk, Virginia and graduated from UVA in 2008 with a degree in economics and continued her education at UVA, earning a master’s degree in social foundations of education the following year.
Simpson served as team captain for the Cavaliers during her junior and senior campaigns. Exemplifying the term ‘student-athlete’, Simpson was a three-time All-American Scholar by the National Golf Coaches Association and a three-time ACC Academic Honor Roll selection.
ABOUT THE COURSE
This week’s event will be held at the 6,335-yard, Par-71 Birdwood Golf Course in Charlottesville and is rated as the seventh-best in Virginia by Golf Magazine and Golf Digest’s “Best In State”.
Designed by legendary PGA Professional Davis Love III, along with his brother Mark Love and course architect Scot Sherman, they used references of courses from all over the world in the design. Courses designed by Seth Raynor and his mentor, C.B. Macdonald, were consistently used as models for the holes.
The back nine at Birdwood Golf Course is as scenic as it gets. A true highlight is number 17 where golfers must navigate an overly memorable par-3 shot that lies in the shadows of the historic Birdwood homestead.
THE FIELD
The Nittany Lions join fellow Big Ten schools Illinois, Iowa and Maryland in the 12-team field this week.
Charlotte, Georgetown, JMU, North Carolina, NC State, Richmond, Tennessee and the host Cavaliers round out the field.
THE TEAM
Penn State is bringing its top-six finishers from last week’s Nittany Lion Invitational to compete this week in Virginia as Senior classmates Drew Nienhaus (St. Louis, Mo.), Michelle Cox (Allentown, Pa.) and Jami Morris (Chagrin Falls, Ohio) join freshmen Jiratchaya Jiratthitinun (Bangkok, Thailand), and Zeynep Sualp (Marmaris, Turkiye) to round out the starting five while fellow rookie Lauren Thompstone (Paris, France) will play as an individual.
Nienhaus and Cox lead the team with matching 73.67 stroke averages through the first two events of the fall with Sualp and Jiratthitinun hot on their heels at 74.00 and 74.17, respectively.
Back at it on Monday and Tuesday in Virginia for the Cavalier Regional Preview!! 🏌️♀️⛳️#WeArePennState #PSUWGOLF pic.twitter.com/2fiyvL587K
— Penn State Women’s Golf (@PennStateWGolf) September 22, 2024
NITTANY LION INVITATIONAL RECAP
Penn State finished fourth in the 14-team field at its home invitational last weekend using the low round of the day on Sunday to move up three spots.
Nienhaus was consistent all weekend finishing tied for third, her lowest collegiate finish, at even-par, 216. Starting on hole seven on Sunday, Nienhaus went out in 2-under, 34, and was bogey-free her first 12 holes before giving a few shots back on her way in to card an even-par, 72. The senior went 71, 73, 72 in the three rounds finishing the week even-par and five shots off the lead.
Playing as individuals Sualp and Morris each carded top-20 finishes tying for 13th and 17th, respectively, earning their way into the starting lineup this week. Sualp fired back-to-back even-par rounds on Saturday before sliding a bit on Sunday with a final round 6-over, 78, in her collegiate debut. Morris finished tied for 17th, the highest of her collegiate career, as she played a very consistent week carding scores of 74, 74 and 75.
Cox was the big mover during the final round as she raced up 21 spots on the leaderboard following an even-par, 72, her second-straight even-par round, after opening the tournament with an 80 on Saturday morning. Cox finished the week tied for 18th at 8-over, 224.
NEXT UP
Penn State has the weekend off before returning to Virginia for the Evie Odom Invitational in Virginia Beach on October 4-6.