Women's Golf Travels to Mason Rudolph Championship
9/17/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
EAST LANSING, Mich. -- A week after hosting the Mary Fossum Invitational at Forest Akers West and finishing in second place, the Michigan State women's golf team continues its fall schedule this weekend (Friday-Sunday) at the 15th-annual Mason Rudolph Championship in Franklin, Tennessee. The elite 17-team field, which features nine teams ranked in the Top 25 at the end of last season, is being held at the Vanderbilt Legends Club, site of the 2012 NCAA Championships.
The Spartans will be starting Sarah Burnham, Katie Sharp, Alison Knowles, Carolyn Markley and Gabby Yurik in the three-day, 54-hole event. Live scoring of the entire tournament will be available at birdiefire.com.
In addition to Michigan State and host Vanderbilt, Alabama, Auburn, GRU-Augusta, Baylor, UCF, Georgia, Houston, LSU, Louisville, Middle Tennessee State, Northwestern, South Carolina, Tulane, Virginia and Yale will also be competing.
"I think there were so many good things that we did last weekend," said MSU head coach Stacy Slobodnik-Stoll. "We're thankful for the opportunity to compete again this weekend. We have one change in the lineup, as our true freshman Carolyn Markley will be making her first road trip, so we're excited about that. We enjoy Nashville -- there are a lot of Spartans down there, and we will get to spend some time with them. It's a great course, and the players that have been there (Gabby Yurik and Sarah Burnham) enjoyed it last year. We're looking forward to a great weekend."
After an impressive summer season which included playing in the U.S. Women's Open, Burnham continued her strong play into the first tournament of the fall, tying for third at the Mary Fossum Invitational last weekend. She shot a school and course single-round record with a 6-under-par 66 in the first round and finished at 3-over 219 (66-75-78); the third-place showing was a career high for her while donning the Green and White.
Sharp also posted a career-best finish by tying for fifth at the Fossum with a 5-over-par 221. Knowles tied for 14th place, fueled by a 3-under 69 in the second round -- her lowest round as a Spartan. Markley, a true freshman, tied for 15th place in her collegiate debut last weekend and will be making her first appearance in the starting lineup.
The Spartans will be teeing off beginning at 9:50 a.m. EDT from hole 10, along with Houston and GRU-Augusta.
Players Mentioned
