Sept. 16, 2011

The Minnesota women’s golf team opened its season in a three-day tournament at the Cougar Classic, and will play in another three-day tournament, this time at Red Sky Golf Club near Vail, Colo. The Golfweek Conference Challenge starts on Monday, Sept. 19 and runs through Wednesday, Sept. 21.

Head coach Michele Redman said that course management was a focus for Minnesota at the Cougar Classic, and she is excited to see her young team’s progress in that area at Red Sky. She is also looking for improvement in a few other skills.

“I really think we need to improve on putting,” Redman said. “I think there are some times when we need to work on our decision making on the golf course.”



The field: The Gophers are one of 18 teams representing 18 different conferences in the field. Two teams that finished last season in Golfweek’s top 25 (Pepperdine and Notre Dame) will be competing. Other teams in the field are UC-Davis, Oklahoma, Chattanooga, TCU, Oregon, Coastal Carolina, Ole Miss, tournament host Denver, Tulsa, Texas San Antonio, New Mexico State, Georgia State, Western Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Kennesaw State. None of the top three finishers in the 2010 Challenge will compete this year.

The course: The Fazio course at Red Sky is a par 72 course and will play at 6,405 yards.

Notes: The Golden Gophers finished eighth in last year’s Challenge…three of Minnesota’s five players who traveled to the Cougar Classic (Sept. 11-13) were playing their first official rounds as Gophers…it was also Michele Redman and assistant John Cleary’s first tournament as Minnesota’s coaches…after the Golfweek Conference Challenge, Minnesota will be off until Oct. 10-11, when they play in the Lady Northern in French Lick, Ind.