The Stetson University women's golf team will return to action on Sunday when the Hatters open play in the largest annual collegiate golf tournament in the nation at the Kiawah Island Classic.
The event, which was first played in 2009 at the Kiawah Island Golf Resort, started with 43 teams that first year. The field for the 2020 edition of the tournament has grown to 53 teams plus 16 individual players who will compete in a separate tournament.
The tournament will begin on Sunday with half the field playing on the Osprey Point Course and the other half playing on the Oak Point Course. For Monday's second round, the teams will play the opposite course. On Tuesday, the top 26 teams will play the final round at Osprey Point with the rest playing at Oak Point. The individual players will play all three rounds on the Cougar Point Course.
This is the sixth consecutive year for the Hatters to compete in the event. Stetson made its tournament debut in 2015, finishing third with a team score of 897. The Hatters finished 11 shots behind the hosts from the College of Charleston that year. Since then, the College of Charleston and Coastal Carolina have alternated wins in the event, with the Chanticleers taking the tournament last spring with a tournament record 865.
Without Coastal Carolina in the field this year, the host Cougars, who come into the tournament ranked 58
th in the nation according to GolfStat, are the favorites, but the Hatters have plans to end the Carolina stranglehold on the event. Stetson comes in having earned top five finishes in each of its six events this year, and the Hatters are ranked 89
th in the nation by GolfStat.
Stetson posted its best team score in the tournament last year, finishing with a 32-over par score of 896. That score was inflated by a bad final round 307 that came after opening round of 290 and 299. Even though it was Stetson's best score in this tournament, the Hatters finished 31 shots behind Coastal Carolina.
To make up that kind of ground, the five players making the trip for the event will all need to play well. Junior
Hanna Kiefer is coming off an ASUN Player of the Week performance in earning medalist honors at Marsh Landing two weeks ago. Kiefer has lowered her season scoring average to 73.94, which is second on the team.
Senior Justin Lauer leads the Hatters with a 73.31 scoring average this year, but is looking to bounce back from struggles so far this spring. She finished with a 10-over par score of 226 at Marsh Landing, a far cry from the program-record 10-under par 206 she had at the FIU Pat Bradley Invitational to close the fall.
Both Kiefer and Lauer posted scores of 225 last year at the Kiawah Island event to finish tied for 65
th.
Senior
Erikah Neger has been playing the best golf of her career of late and is no stranger to the Kiawah Island Classic. This will be her third time to play in the event, where she has averaged 75.5 over six rounds of play.
Junior
Meghan McLean will make her spring debut and is hopeful of improving her results from last years' event where she had rounds of 80-75-81 and finished tied for 156
th. Sophomore Bianco Sol Cruz will also play in the tournament for a second straight year. She had rounds of 72-78-77 last year to finish tied for 86
th.
The Hatters will play a practice round on the Osprey Point Course on Saturday before playing their first round on that same course on Monday. Play on Monday and Tuesday will include two waves of tee times with the first wave starting at 8:30 a.m. and the second wave starting at 1:30 p.m.
Stetson will play early in Sunday's first round and then in the afternoon for Monday's second round at the Oak Point Course. Play in the final round on Tuesday will commence with a shotgun start at 8:45 a.m. on both courses.
2020 Kiawah Island Classic Field (GolfStat ranking)
Alabama State (230), Austin Peay (210), Bethune-Cookman (187), Boston University (164), Bucknell (218), Charleston Southern (221), College of Charleston (58), College of Charleston (B), Dayton (192), Delaware (126), Elon (185), Fairfield (252), Fairleigh Dickinson (162), Florida Gulf Coast (110), Hampton (254), High Point (130), Hofstra (245), Indiana State (200), IUPUI (147), Jacksonville (170), Jacksonville State (143), James Madison (125), Lipscomb (154), Longwood (194), Merrimack College (255), Missouri State (159), Monmouth (231), Murray State (148), Navy (166), North Alabama (NR), Oakland (217), Omaha (227), Oral Roberts (109), Presbyterian (235), Radford (199), Quinnipiac (141), Sacred Heart (240), Samford (168), SCAD – Savannah (NAIA-2), Saint Francis (246), Stetson (89), Tennessee Tech (223), Towson (198), The Citadel (251), UT Arlington (183), UNC Asheville (244), UNCG (134), USC Upstate (124), Western Carolina (176), William & Mary (169), Winthrop (226), Wofford (191) and Youngstown State (211)
About Stetson University Athletics: Stetson University's Athletics Program has a vision of developing a culture of champions athletically, academically and within the community. This vision is accomplished through a mission of recruiting and developing student-athletes, coaches and staff, creating a culture of champions, within and outside of competition. The department operates with five core values: Championship Culture, Integrity, Excellence, Pride/Tradition and Leadership. To learn more about the Vision, Mission and Core Values for Stetson Athletics, visit GoHatters.com and click on Mission Statement under the Inside Athletics tab.
