The No. 20 MSU women’s golf team practiced through gusty winds, occasional rain spurts and hailstorms Tuesday afternoon, but they didn’t let the bad weather get in the way of preparing for its biggest tournament of the season — the Big Ten Championships hosted by Purdue at Kampen Course.
While the weather is predicted to be in the high 70s throughout this weekend’s tournament, the Spartans wanted to work on playing through adverse conditions in case the weather takes a turn for the worse.
The tournament will be held on the same course where the Spartans played in October and took home a second place finish through a field of 14 teams, only behind the Boilermakers.
MSU head coach Stacy Slobodnik-Stoll is expecting Purdue to benefit from hosting the tournament but is reassured by her team’s success earlier this season.
“That golf course is very different from a lot of Big Ten courses,” Slobodnik-Stoll said. “We’ve played there before so there’s nothing scary to us. But being on your home course helps because your knowledge is much better.”
Big Ten’s best
Slobodnik-Stoll thinks junior Laura Kueny is playing the best golf of her life. And it couldn’t have come at a better time.
Last weekend Kueny finished second at the Lady Buckeye Invitational — her ninth top-five finish in her career, ranking her 17th in the country.
Now she has her eyes set on capturing a Big Ten individual title, a feat Slobodnik-Stoll thinks is within her grasp.
“She’s been playing so well in the last two tournaments,” Slobodnik-Stoll said. “She’s just been playing great and she’s improving all the time.”
But standing in front of Kueny and an individual title is Purdue’s Maria Hernandez, who is currently ranked eighth in the country and was named the Big Ten Player of the Year the past two seasons.
“I just want to do the best I can and know I’m the best player out there,” Kueny said. “Then I feel good about coming away with a win.”
Rounding out the lineup
Despite the poor weather Tuesday, the Spartans played against each other to see who will be in the No. 5 and No. 6 slots this weekend.
Kueny, sophomore Aimee Neff, sophomore Michelle Bowles and freshman Lindsey Solberg are all locks in the top four while sophomore Natalie Brehm, freshman Shannon Warner and senior Holly Niederkohr were battling Tuesday for the last two slots.
“If we want to win, those fifth and sixth players are going to be extremely important,” Slobodnik-Stoll said.
But regardless of who closes out the lineup, Bowles said the team is just excited to get out on the course and start the tournament.
“Every tournament is just to build up to these final three — the Big Tens, regionals and hopefully nationals,” Bowles said. “As a team we can’t wait to get out there and show them what MSU golf is all about.”
Support student media! Please consider donating to The State News and help fund the future of journalism.
