SHSU releases well-traveled 2015-16 schedule
7/15/2015 2:52:00 PM | Women's Golf
The Sam Houston State women's golf squad will compete in 11 tournaments across six states during the 2015-16 season including the program's first trip Tacoma, Wash., for the Pat Lesser Harbottle Invitational from Oct. 12-13, fourth-year head coach Brandt Kieschnick announced Wednesday.
For the seventh consecutive season, Sam Houston will host the two-day, 54-hole Bearkat Invitational, which takes place Oct. 5-6 at Raven Nest Golf Course. Last season, the Bearkats took second, led by current sophomore Sarah Black, who finished tied for seventh.
“We want to get these girls traveling,” Kieschnick said. “We've tried to upgrade the schedule every year and we feel like we did a good job of that this year. We're going to see some different teams. We think this is the year that we'll be a better team and be ready to win a conference championship.”
For the third straight year, the team tees off its fall campaign in Memphis at the FedEx Women's Intercollegiate (Sept. 14-15) at Ridgeway Country Club, which is followed up by the annual trip to Tulsa, Okla., for the Bob Hurley ORU Shootout (Sept. 28-29) at Meadowbrook Country Club.
The Kats close out the fall slate with their fifth tournament in as many states at the UALR Women's Golf Classic (Nov. 1-3) from Diamante Country Club in Hot Springs, Ark.
“I think it's attractive for anyone coming to play at Sam that we're going to get you better by not just staying home,” Kieschnick said. “We want to be ready for Regionals where you can get picked anywhere from Washington to New York to Florida and those are all different types of grasses. By the time conference championship comes around, we'll be a real seasoned team.”
The women's Southland Conference Championship takes place for the second straight season at Stonebridge Ranch Country Club in McKinney, from April 11-13, where Sam Houston seeks its first league title since 2007 and first NCAA Regional appearance in program history.
The Bearkats play their first four tournaments of the spring in Texas, leading off with a second consecutive trip to Landa Park Golf Course in New Braunfels for the Texas State Spring Challenge on Feb. 14-15. One weekend later, the Kats venture to the 2015 Islander Classic from Corpus Christi Country Club and continue southward for their first trip to McAllen for the UTRGV Women's Collegiate from March 7-9.
The squad makes the short trek down to Houston's Riverbend Country Club for the sixth straight year, as part of the HBU Huskie Women's Intercollegiate (March 28-29) before journeying out to Jacksonville, Fla., for the final regular-season tournament at the Web.com Intercollegiate (April 4-5), hosted by North Florida and Jacksonville at Marsh Landing Country Club.
“We return some really good players and added some really good players,” Kieschnick said. “My expectations are that by the end of the year, we'll be ready for conference championship and that's what we're building towards. I think we're going to see some new faces doing really well.”
