COMING OFF THE PRACTICE RANGE ? Western Michigan golf has not swung a collective club during a competitive round since the Mary Fossum Invitational hosted by Michigan State on Sept. 20-21. The Broncos finished 10th in the event with Elise Swartout leading the way with a tie for 17th place.
WMU takes on a field of 15 teams in this year's Xavier Invitational, hosted by the Musketeers. It is only the second year for the event. Last year the Broncos finished 10th as a team and current volunteer coach Laura Bavaird paced the effort with a tie for ninth place.
LAST TIME OUT ? WMU followed a season-opening top-10 finish at the Nittany Lion Invitational with a 10th-place finish at the Mary Fossum Invitational.
Swartout started off the event strong with an even-par round of 72 en route to a tie for 17th. Britney Hamilton also finished in the top 25 with the help of a 3-over par 75 in the opening round.
Freshman Leah Grawburg carded a pair of rounds in the 70's in her second collegiate event and fellow rookie Brooke Hovenkamp made her collegiate debut for the Broncos.
ONE YEAR AGO ? The field has expanded by one team from the inaugural event, which is not held in Cincinnati but rather at the LPGA International Golf Club in Dayton, Fla.
The actual course this year's field will compete on is also different. In 2007, the tournament was held on the Champions Course. This year, the Legends course will play host. This par-72 course, spanning 6,045 yards, has five holes going out where water comes into play - compared to just two on the homeward nine.
Greenside bunkers dot the landscape in front of and around all but two greens (No. 13 and No. 18 are free of sand traps).
KNOW YOUR HISTORY ? Florida Atlantic is the defending team champion with a score of 906 (311-300-295) a year ago. FAU was one of only two teams to post a team round under 300 during the event. Tennessee-Chattanooga was the other (296). The Owls will have an opportunity to defend as they return to the field.
Coastal Carolina's Ann Maness will not have an opportunity to defend as medalist as the Chantacleers are not part of the 15-team field. Maness, then a junior, was one of four golfers to post a score below par during the tournament en route to a 2-over par finish.
Two Broncos returning to Daytona, Swartout and Stephanie Koske, posted multiple rounds in the 70's during the tournament. Hamilton closed the tournament with a bounce-back round of 7-over par 79.
SEARCH THE FIELD ? There are 15 teams in this year's Xavier Invitational. Bowling Green and Eastern Michigan join Western Michigan as the only two other entrants from the Mid-American Conference.
Also a part of the field are defending champion FAU, Lamar, Georgetown, Mercer, Yale, Stetson, Charleston Southern, Eastern Kentucky, Bethune-Cookman, Barry and Daytona State College and host Xavier.
NEXT ON THE TEE ? Western Michigan closes out the fall portion of its season at Pine Needles hosted by Rollins College in Pinehurst, N.C. The Broncos finished 11th in this event a year ago.
The event, which takes place Oct. 27-28, is a 54-hole event and is just one of two tournaments that the Broncos will not compete in over a weekend. This tournament and the Arkansas-Little Rock Invitational (March 30-31) both take place over a Monday and Tuesday.
