PEORIA, Ill. -- Third-year Bradley women's golf head coach Mary Moan and the Bradley women's golf team will open the 2012 Fall schedule Saturday and Sunday at the Redbird Invitational in Normal, Ill. The Redbird Invite is the first of five tournaments on the fall slate for the Braves.
BradleyBraves.com will provide a link to live scoring for the Redbird Invitational, which will be played Saturday and Sunday at the par-72 Weibring Golf Course in Normal, Ill. The Braves will open the fall schedule at the Redbird Invitational for the third consecutive year, after a seventh-place finish in a 17-team field at last year's event.
This year's field includes Missouri Valley Conference rivals Drake, Evansville, Illinois State and Southern Illinois among the 16 teams competing in the 54-hole event, which will feature 36 holes of play on Saturday. Mid-American Conference members Akron, Ball State, Bowling Green and Ohio help round out the field which also features Detroit, Eastern Kentucky, Illinois Wesleyan, Oakland, South Dakota State, Toledo and Western Illinois.
After back-to-back fifth-place conference finishes, Moan has high hopes for a young squad which features three freshmen and three sophomores. Helping highlight a group which includes the top two performers from 2011-12 and three of the top four in stroke average from last year are the sophomore duo of Thea Hedemann (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan/Walter Murray) and Christie Lin (Calgary, Alberta/Sir John G Diefenbaker).
Lin, who led Bradley with a 77.6 season stroke average to break the BU freshman record, opened her career with a first-round 75 at last year's Redbird Invitational and was the Braves top finisher in the event. She also carded rounds of 80 and 78 to tie for 16th last year in Normal, Ill., at 233.
A First-Team All-Missouri Valley Conference performer, Hedemann also had a strong debut last year at the Redbird Invite. She finished three shots behind Lin in a tie for 21st at 236 after rounds of 79, 80 and 77. Hedemann, who was also named the MVC Newcomer of the Year, tied for fifth at last year's Valley Championship and was second on the team with a 77.9 season stroke average.
In addition, junior Cassandra Marschall (Marshfield, Wis./Marshfield/Wisconsin-Green Bay) is one of just two returning upperclassmen for BU and was fourth in 2011-12 with an 82.2 stroke average. Marschall ended the season on a high note, owning a 76.5 stroke average in Bradley's final two tournaments and also closed out play at last year's Redbird Invitational with rounds of 78 and 75.
With plenty of experience in the lineup, the Braves will also benefit of the addition of freshmen Danielle Lemek (Doniphan, Neb./Doniphan-Trumbull), Jenna Roadley (Winnipeg, Manitoba/Sturgeon Heights) and Allison Walsh (Mt. Prospect, Ill./Mt. Prospect), who all won high school individual championships. Lemek won four consecutive state individual titles, while Roadley won a Manitoba Provincial Girl's championship. Walsh claimed the 2011 IHSA AA individual championship as a senior.
