Eastern Michigan Athletics
Friday, April 22
Noblesville, Ind.
All Day
Eastern Michigan University
at
MAC Championship
Women's Golf Gears Up in Search of its First MAC Title
4/19/2016 6:24:00 PM | Women's Golf
EMU is scheduled to tee off Friday, April 22, at Purgatory Golf Club in Indiana
Live Scoring | MAC Championship Website.
MAC Championship Record Book/Program.
NOBLESVILLE, Ind. (EMUEagles.com) — The Eastern Michigan University women's golf team will compete at the 2016 Mid-American Conference Championship Friday through Sunday, April 22-24, at Purgatory Golf Club in Noblesville, Ind. The three-day event will consist of 54 holes on the par-72, 6,194-yard course for the 10 MAC schools that sponsor women's golf – Akron, Ball State, Bowling Green, Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Kent State, Northern Illinois, Ohio, Toledo and Western Michigan.
Hosting the MAC Championship for the first-time, Purgatory opened in 1997 and offers 18 holes of championship golf. Owners, Mike and Tenna Merchent, purchased the land to build Purgatory Golf Club in 1997. After the auction, Denzel Hufford, one of the previous owners, talked to the Merchents about the lovely sassafras trees that had been on the property. The Merchents originally named the course Sassafras Golf Club, but informal market research indicated that Sassafras was not a name that serious golfers would embrace.
Having one of the best seasons in program history, the Eagles have posted the lowest 18-hole average in program history at 304.71. The tally is just 0.03 ahead the 2011-12 squad's record-setting mark of 305.74. Overall, Eastern Michigan has finished in the top-five at five different tournaments this season, including a second-place finish in the The Preview where just Toledo finished ahead of EMU.
Individually, junior Kelsey Murphy (Plymouth, Mich.-Plymouth) leads the team with an average of 74.83, a mark that ranks lowest in school history. Sophomore Thelma Beck (Baden, France-Lycee Sainte Anne) follows Murphy closely with a 75.71 season average, ranking fifth in EMU history, while Karyn Lee Ping (Brampton, Ontario-St. Augustine Secondary School) has put together a solid season of her own, grabbing an average of 76.68 this year, including two rounds where she has shot par-or-better.
First-year Head Coach Pina Gentile and the Eagles look to spoil Kent State's chance to make history, as the Golden Flashes vie for their 18th-straight league championship. The mark is tied for the most consecutive MAC titles in a single sport in conference history, tying EMU's 17-straight men's swimming and diving championships (1980-96).
The Golden Flashes are ranked No. 14 in Golfstat's national rankings followed by Toledo (82), Eastern Michigan (124), Western Michigan (146), Northern Illinois (148), Akron (151), Bowling Green (167), Ohio (170), Ball State (171) and Central Michigan (238).
At last year's MAC Championship, Eastern Michigan took second-place with a three-day cumulative score of 928 (315-307-306). Murphy finished in third place with a three-day score of 228 (79-78-71) earning all-tournament team accolades while Becktied for ninth with a 234 (83-76-75). Murphy's showing was the best by an Eagle since Sarah Johnson won the 2011 MAC title with a three-day total of 216 (72-73-71).
EMU has been the most likely candidate to challenge Kent State for the top spot at the event, as the Eagles' seven runner-up finishes at the MAC Championship are the most of any team in the league. The Green and White has placed second in 2003, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013 and 2015.
Ohio (1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2005), Ball State (2010, 2012), Toledo (2006, 2014) and Western Michigan (2004) are the only other teams to record a second-place finish in the history of the tournament.
The winner of the 2016 MAC Championship will receive an automatic berth to the NCAA regional round, May 5-7, at one of the four regional locations. The possible sites include Stanford, Calif. (Stanford), Bryan, Texas (Texas A&M), Baton Rouge, La. (LSU) and Shoal Creek, Ala. (UAB).
The tournament will begin Friday with tee times at 8 a.m., while the final two rounds will have the same tee times, from 8 a.m. through 11:10 a.m. Eastern's lineup will consist of Murphy, Beck, Ping, Lauren Stephens (Dublin, Ohio-Coffman) and Penelope Guilleux (Saint Maur Des Fosse, France-Arsonval). The Eagles will tee off in the final five groups which begin at 10:30 a.m.
Live scoring will be available via Golfstat Live. Unofficial scores will be reported every three holes. The four lowest scores of the team will count each day as a team total. To follow the live scoring at the 2016 MAC Women's Golf Championship, click here.
MAC Championship Record Book/Program.
NOBLESVILLE, Ind. (EMUEagles.com) — The Eastern Michigan University women's golf team will compete at the 2016 Mid-American Conference Championship Friday through Sunday, April 22-24, at Purgatory Golf Club in Noblesville, Ind. The three-day event will consist of 54 holes on the par-72, 6,194-yard course for the 10 MAC schools that sponsor women's golf – Akron, Ball State, Bowling Green, Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Kent State, Northern Illinois, Ohio, Toledo and Western Michigan.
Hosting the MAC Championship for the first-time, Purgatory opened in 1997 and offers 18 holes of championship golf. Owners, Mike and Tenna Merchent, purchased the land to build Purgatory Golf Club in 1997. After the auction, Denzel Hufford, one of the previous owners, talked to the Merchents about the lovely sassafras trees that had been on the property. The Merchents originally named the course Sassafras Golf Club, but informal market research indicated that Sassafras was not a name that serious golfers would embrace.
Having one of the best seasons in program history, the Eagles have posted the lowest 18-hole average in program history at 304.71. The tally is just 0.03 ahead the 2011-12 squad's record-setting mark of 305.74. Overall, Eastern Michigan has finished in the top-five at five different tournaments this season, including a second-place finish in the The Preview where just Toledo finished ahead of EMU.
Individually, junior Kelsey Murphy (Plymouth, Mich.-Plymouth) leads the team with an average of 74.83, a mark that ranks lowest in school history. Sophomore Thelma Beck (Baden, France-Lycee Sainte Anne) follows Murphy closely with a 75.71 season average, ranking fifth in EMU history, while Karyn Lee Ping (Brampton, Ontario-St. Augustine Secondary School) has put together a solid season of her own, grabbing an average of 76.68 this year, including two rounds where she has shot par-or-better.
First-year Head Coach Pina Gentile and the Eagles look to spoil Kent State's chance to make history, as the Golden Flashes vie for their 18th-straight league championship. The mark is tied for the most consecutive MAC titles in a single sport in conference history, tying EMU's 17-straight men's swimming and diving championships (1980-96).
The Golden Flashes are ranked No. 14 in Golfstat's national rankings followed by Toledo (82), Eastern Michigan (124), Western Michigan (146), Northern Illinois (148), Akron (151), Bowling Green (167), Ohio (170), Ball State (171) and Central Michigan (238).
At last year's MAC Championship, Eastern Michigan took second-place with a three-day cumulative score of 928 (315-307-306). Murphy finished in third place with a three-day score of 228 (79-78-71) earning all-tournament team accolades while Becktied for ninth with a 234 (83-76-75). Murphy's showing was the best by an Eagle since Sarah Johnson won the 2011 MAC title with a three-day total of 216 (72-73-71).
EMU has been the most likely candidate to challenge Kent State for the top spot at the event, as the Eagles' seven runner-up finishes at the MAC Championship are the most of any team in the league. The Green and White has placed second in 2003, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013 and 2015.
Ohio (1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2005), Ball State (2010, 2012), Toledo (2006, 2014) and Western Michigan (2004) are the only other teams to record a second-place finish in the history of the tournament.
The winner of the 2016 MAC Championship will receive an automatic berth to the NCAA regional round, May 5-7, at one of the four regional locations. The possible sites include Stanford, Calif. (Stanford), Bryan, Texas (Texas A&M), Baton Rouge, La. (LSU) and Shoal Creek, Ala. (UAB).
The tournament will begin Friday with tee times at 8 a.m., while the final two rounds will have the same tee times, from 8 a.m. through 11:10 a.m. Eastern's lineup will consist of Murphy, Beck, Ping, Lauren Stephens (Dublin, Ohio-Coffman) and Penelope Guilleux (Saint Maur Des Fosse, France-Arsonval). The Eagles will tee off in the final five groups which begin at 10:30 a.m.
Live scoring will be available via Golfstat Live. Unofficial scores will be reported every three holes. The four lowest scores of the team will count each day as a team total. To follow the live scoring at the 2016 MAC Women's Golf Championship, click here.
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Golf
/ Women's Golf
/ Women's Golf
/ Women's Golf
/ Women's Golf
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