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Oct. 5, 2012
SEATTLE -- The red-hot Husky women's golf team returns to action next week when they host their lone tournament of the season, the Edean Ihlanfeldt Invitational at Sahalee Country Club. Golfweek's No. 1 ranked team welcomes in 15 other squads for 54-holes of action starting Monday and running through Wednesday. Washington is riding one of its best stretches of golf in recent history, winning the season-opening Oregon State Invitational and finishing second at the Windy City Collegiate Championship. The Huskies have ridden on the backs of a young lineup through the first two tournaments, as three sophomores and two freshmen have led UW to not only a top-ranking by Golfweek, but a No. 2 ranking by Golfstat.com. Despite the team's success, Mary Lou Mulflur -- in her 30th year as the Huskies' head coach -- has opened up competition for spots in the lineup in the 31st installment of the Edean Ihlanfeldt Invitational. All eight Huskies will compete in the tournament, but only five can make up the lineup. Mulflur was originally going to make her top four finishers at the previous event exempt from qualifying. After a discussion with her squad, Mulflur decided to let her players determine the lineup. They decided that only Jennifer Yang, who finished a team-best 8th at the Windy City Collegiate Championship, will automatically represent the team. The other seven members of the squad will have an 18-hole qualifying tournament at Sahalee on Saturday. "I might do this for every tournament," quipped Mulflur. "It shows incredible maturity for freshmen and sophomores to sacrifice their spots and be willing to earn their place in the lineups." Washington had used a lineup of Yang, SooBin Kim, Cyd Okino, Ying Luo and Charlotte for the first two tourneys. Junior Kelli Bowers, senior Brittany Tallman and redshirt-freshman Monica Huang will now have a chance to crack the lineup. Joining the Huskies at Sahalee Country Club next week are (top-100 Golfweek ranking): Fresno State, Gonzaga (40), Hawai'i, Long Beach State (66), Oregon (36), Oregon State (54), Portland State, San Diego State (88), San Francisco (69), San Jose State (76), Seattle U (56), Stanford (39), UC Davis (11), UC Irvine (64) and UNLV (41). The tournament will be hosted by Sahalee Country Club in Sammamish, Wash. The course will be playing as a par 72 at a distance of 6,054 yards. Sahalee has played host to many prestigious tournaments through the years, including the 2010 U.S. Senior Open, 2002 NEC World Championship and 1998 PGA Championship. Play will start Monday at 9:00 a.m. PT on both the first and 10th tees. Tuesday's second round action begins at 10:30 a.m., while Wednesday's final round commences at 8:00 a.m.
About Eden Ihlanfeldt Armed with an envelope of names and addresses of women who signed up to play, she started the program in 1974 before retiring seven years later in 1981 at the age of 50. During her seven year coaching career, Ihlanfeldt never accepted payment for her coaching duties. Instead, she donated her salary back for scholarships. Three of Ihlanfeldt's teams and five individuals qualified for the AIAW championships. During her tenure, Washington was the only Northwest team to qualify for the nationals. Ihlanfeldt was no stranger to championship golf. Her list of victories included five PNGA titles, six Montana State championships, three Washington State titles, four Seattle City championships, the Trans-Mississippi title and the Canadian Open Championship. She was the only player to win the Seattle City, Washington and PNGA tournaments in the same year. The Washington women's golf program named its fall golf invitational in her honor. The 54-hole Edean Ihlanfeldt Invitational is Washington's annual fall tournament held at Sahalee Country Club in Sammamish, Wash. The 2012 Ihlanfeldt Invitational will be the 31st in the event's history. Oregon's Cassy Isagawa won individual medalist honors and the Colorado Buffaloes also won the 2011 Team Championship. | ||||||||||||||||
