Women’s Golf Returns Home to Host 41st Edition of the Mary Fossum Invitational

East Lansing, Mich. – Michigan State's women's golf team will host the 41st edition of the Mary Fossum Invitational this weekend at the Forest Akers West Golf Course on the MSU campus.

The Spartans will welcome 14 teams to their home course, with the tournament starting on Sunday, Sept. 20 with 36 holes and a 9 a.m. shotgun start. The tournament concludes with 18 holes on Monday, with an 8:30 a.m. shotgun start.

The tournament will be played on the par-72, 6,370 yard course at Forest Akers West, which served as a host for one of six NCAA Regionals in May 2024.

THE LINEUP
1. Keeley Marx
2. Lucia Valderrama
3. Ana Sofia Murcia
4. Sarisa Pojanalai
5. Grace Vetter
IND. Payton Haugen
IND. Angelina Zhang
IND. Almendra Campoverde
IND. Catalina Monroy

LIVE STATS
Live stats will be available through Clippd.

THE MARY FOSSUM INVITATIONAL FIELD
The 15-team field includes host Michigan State, along with Bowling Green, Central Michigan, Delaware, Findlay, Florida International, Grand Valley State, Illinois State, Kennesaw State, Northern Illinois, Oakland, Ohio University, Rutgers, Western Michigan and Youngstown State.

LAST TIME OUT
Michigan State's women's golf team posted the second-best team round of the day, and its best of the tournament, to finish in seventh place among 12 teams at the Folds of Honor Collegiate, played at American Dunes Golf Club in Grand Haven on Sept. 9 … The Spartans fired a 5-under par 283 in the final round, their best score of the tournament and tied for the second-best team round of the day with Florida State and Texas A&M and one shot off the pace of Duke (6-under par 282) … Michigan State finished the three-day tournament at 16-over par 880 (296-301-283) … Senior Keeley Marx fired a career-best 5-under par 67 to lead the way for the Spartans … Marx finished her round with six birdies and 11 pars, with her 67 tied for the 20th-best 18-hole score in program history … She led the Spartans, tying for 12th place at even-par 216 (73-76-67) … Sophomore Lucia Valderrama shot a 1-under par 71 on Tuesday and finished in 24th place overall at 4-over par 220 (74-75-71) … Sophomore Sarisa Pojanalai and senior Ana Sofia Murcia tied for 26th place at 6-over par 222 … Pojanalai shot a 4-over par 76 to close at 222 (73-73-76) … Murcia had the second-best round for the Spartans, carding a 3-under par 69, tied for the second-best round of her career. Her round of 69 moved her up 14 spots to close at 222 (76-77-69).

TOURNAMENT NOTES

The Mary Fossum Invitational was first played in 1978, with Alabama winning the team title.
For nearly 50 years, the Mary Fossum Invitational has been a staple of the MSU women's golf schedule and has been played in all but eight seasons since 1978.
This year's field includes two teams (Michigan State and Oakland) that advanced to the NCAA Division I women's golf regionals, as well as two teams (Grand Valley State and Findlay) who reached the NCAA Division II Championships.
The Spartans are the only school that reached the NCAA Division I Championships.
The last time the Fossum was played, in 2024, Ole Miss won the team title with a 17-under par 847, setting a tournament record, and were led by medalist Caitlyn Macnab, who set a tournament record with a 12-under par 204.

ABOUT MARY FOSSUM
Mary Fossum created the women's golf program at MSU in 1973 and was the coach for 25 years. Under Fossum's guidance, the Spartans won an unprecedented five straight Big Ten titles from 1974-78 and played in six consecutive AIAW National Championships (1973-78). The Spartans regained the conference crown in 1982 and played in the 1982 and 1984 NCAA Championships. MSU claimed its third conference runner-up spot under Fossum at the 1987 Big Ten Championship. For 17 of her seasons as head coach of the Spartans, Fossum was part of a unique coaching pair as her husband, Bruce, coached the MSU men's team for 25 seasons before his retirement in 1989. Bruce passed away in March 2014 at the age of 86 and Mary passed away in 2020 at age 96.

MARY FOSSUM INVITATIONAL HISTORY
Michigan State has won the event 13 times, 11 coming under the direction of Head Coach Stacy Slobodnik-Stoll, who took over the program when Fossum retired in 1997. The Spartans last team win in the event was in 2019, with Paz Marfa Sans taking medalist honors. Ole Miss won the 2024 event with a tournament record 54-hole score of 847. The Spartans have had four individuals take medalist honors in the last five events, including in 2023 when Katie Lue shot a 3-under par 213.