Pina Gentile Assistant Coach | University of Illinois Division of Intercollegiate Athletics Website
Pina Gentile Assistant Coach | University of Illinois Division of Intercollegiate Athletics Website
Fighting Illini women's golf is headed to the Bluegrass State to compete at the Bettie Lou Evans Invitational at Champion Trace at Keene Trace Golf Club in Nicholasville, Ky., from Sunday, Sept. 8, through Tuesday, Sept. 10.
The Bettie Lou Evans Invitational is celebrating its 31st year with a new course. For the first time, Champion Trace at Keene Trace Golf Club is set to host this prestigious event. This course was designed by world-renowned golf course architect Arthur Hills and was built in 1987 by Tom Heilbron. Champion Trace also hosts the annual PGA Tour event, the ISCO Championship, formerly the Barbasol Championship. Consistently ranked among the top courses in Kentucky, Champion Trace promises to provide challenging and fresh dynamics to this year's invitational. The course will be set up for a par 72 and will play 6,261 yards.
This 54-hole stroke play event will feature 18 holes on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. Tee times on Sunday and Monday start at 7:30 a.m. CT, with the final round shotgun on Tuesday also set for a 7:30 a.m. CT start.
Along with the Illini, the 11-team, 66-player event includes Akron, Eastern Kentucky, Houston, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisville, Middle Tennessee, Missouri, TCU and Washington State.
The Fighting Illini lineup features Victoria Zheng as No.1; Yurang Li as No.2; Lexanne Halama as No.3; Brielle Mapanao as No.4; Brielle Burns as No.5; and Anna Ritter participating individually.
This will be the 14th time in program history that the Illinois women's golf program has competed in the Bettie Lou Invitational (formerly known as the Wildcat/Lady Kat Fall Invitational). The Fighting Illini finished fifth in each of their last two appearances in this tournament in 2017 and 2011. The Orange and Blue's best finish at this event was fourth place in 1992 when Illinois head coach Renee Slone (formerly Heiken) earned medalist honors.
Live scoring for the Bettie Lou Evans Invitational will be available on Scoreboard.clipped.com. A recap and results will be posted on FightingIllini.com following each day of play.
The Illini will next head to Charlottesville, Va., to compete in the Cavalier Regional Preview from Sept. 23-24.
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