Bulls Head to Penn State for Second Event of Fall
EVENT: Nittany Lion Invitational
DATES: Saturday, Sept. 23 – Sunday, Sept. 24
FORMAT: 36 holes Saturday, 18 holes Sunday (9 a.m. shotgun starts)
LOCATION: Penn State Blue Course, University Park, Pa.
COURSE SETUP: Par 72, 6,328 yards
LIVE SCORING: Golfstat.com
UPDATES: Twitter
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By TOM ZEBOLD
USF Senior Writer
TAMPA, SEPT. 22, 2017 – USF women's golf is set to compete in its second event of the fall at the Nittany Lion Invitational this weekend.
Penn State's home tournament starts Saturday with 36 holes at the Blue Course (par 72, 6,328 yards) and concludes with 18 more holes Sunday in University Park, Pa. Action begins with a 9 a.m. shotgun start each day.
Head coach
Tiffany Prats' Bulls opened their fall season with a ninth-place finish at the William & Mary Invitational on Sept. 11. Transfers Napaphan "Ning" Phongpaiboon and
Natalia Villavicencio made their USF debuts, while freshman
Haley Danford and Sara McKevitt took their first swings in a college tournament.
The event also marked Maria "Nani" Merchan's first college tournament since the Web.com Intercollegiate on April 3 last spring. The junior from Venezuela missed out on USF's title win at the Hoya Invitational and the conference tournament because of an injury.
The Lineup
- Napaphan "Ning" Phongpaiboon – The senior transfer from Thailand led the Bulls in their fall opener with a tie for 32nd place on the individual leaderboard on Sept. 11.
- Natalia Villavicencio – The junior transfer from Santiago, Chile continues her run with the Bulls after leading Western Carolina with a season scoring average of 76.17 in 2016-17.
- Haley Danford – The freshman from Longwood, Fla., moves up to the third spot in the lineup after finishing in USF's top three in the fall opener.
- Maria "Nani" Merchan – The junior from Venezuela returns to the lineup after playing as an individual at William & Mary.
- Mariale Merchan – The sophomore from Venezuela will make her season debut. Merchan competed in seven events as a freshman and tied for 25th place to help the Bulls post a wire-to-wire win at the Hoya Invitational last spring.
The Field
Penn State, Bucknell, Columbia, Delaware, Harvard, Maryland, Ohio, University of Pennsylvania, Princeton, Rutgers, Seton Hall, Yale and Youngstown State.
Quotable
Head coach Tiffany Prats' thoughts on heading up north to Penn State:
"The golf course is great. It's going to be a northern style golf course, so the greens are going to be a little different. Natalia and Ning have played on these conditions and some of our girls have had success up north in the past. Like at William & Mary, we're going to have some good competition. I've coached a Regional at the course before and I've had girls play extremely well there. We think we have a good plan and (assistant)
Kelli Pry is from Pennsylvania and she's played there quite a bit. Her and I are both really comfortable on the golf course and the girls trust us."
Prats on the course setup giving players a chance to post low scores:
"I think with this golf course, you'll see a lot of birdies. We can't go out and make the mental mistakes we've made in the past. We have to really take advantage of what's being given to us. From our team and every team in the field, birdies there are definitely doable. It's the matter of who makes the fewest mistakes because everybody is going to be able to go low with birdies."
Prats on how the Bulls practiced this week and the coaching approach going into the tournament:
"This week is probably the best week of practice we've had this year. We've done more one-on-one time with each player to really be able to help them where they need it the most around the golf course. We're kind of going to do the same thing at this tournament with Kelli and I both spending more time with a few girls each versus being on one or two holes and seeing all five. It gives them a little more attention on the golf course."
Notables
- USF will begin the tournament on the front nine Saturday at 9 a.m.
- Assistant coach Kelli Pry, a former USF player, is originally from Coatesville, Pa., which is about a three-hour drive to University Park.
- Next up for USF is Florida International's Pat Bradley Invitational Oct. 22-24 in Lakewood Ranch, Fla.
- The Bulls finish up their fall season with a home tournament. The USF Intercollegiate will take place Oct. 30-31 at TPC Tampa Bay.
About USF Women's Golf
USF women's golf completed its first season under the guidance of head coach Tiffany Prats in 2016-17. USF posted its first tournament victory since 2012 at the Hoya Invitational and collected seven top-10 finishes in 10 events. For the latest information on USF women's golf, follow the team on Twitter @USFWGolf and Facebook.
