GETTING BACK IN THE SWING ? Sophomore Britney Hamilton's first competitive round for the Brown & Gold since the William & Mary Invitational (March 22-23, 2008) ended up being her best round as a Bronco.
Despite missing the last the last three events in 2007-08 due to injury, Hamilton opened 2008-09 with a career-low round of 72, even-par for the Penn State Blue Course. She went on to her best finish as a collegiate golfer, tying for sixth in the 81-golfer field.
GET YOUR FEET WET ? A pair of freshman competed in their first rounds of competition at the Nittany Lion Women's Invitational. Leah Grawburg and Maria Demarco were fourth and fifth in the Bronco line up, respectively.
Grawburg's lowest score came in the second round as the Mount Pleasant, Mich., native shaved six strokes off her opening-round score.
KEEP DOING WHAT YOU DO ? Elise Swartout continued her consistent play from the summer, finishing in a tie with teammate Britney Hamilton for sixth at the season-opening Nittany Lion Invitational.
After opening with a 5-over par 77, Swartout carded 74 and 75 in the final two rounds, respectively, for the second top-10 finish of her collegiate career.
MARY, MARY ? Western Michigan golf competes in the Mary Fossum Invitational hosted by Michigan State University. The three-round event is in its 25th year and takes place at the Forest Akers West Golf Course in East Lansing, Mich.
The format for this weekend's tournament (Sept. 20-21) is 36-18=54. The field will traverse this 6,236-yard par 72 for 36 holes on Friday and for the final round of 18 on Sunday. Action begins at 8:30 a.m. each day.
WHAT'S THE SCORE? ? Live scoring of the 25th Annual Mary Fossum Invitational will be available at www.golfstat.com. Results and a recap will be available on www.wmubroncos.com at the completion of play.
KNOW YOUR HISTORY ? Michigan State is the defending team champion and the Spartans' Laura Kueny was individual medalist. Kent State and Northern Illinois are the only two current Mid-American Conference teams to claim team titles at this tournament. KSU did so in 2002, while the Huskies did so in 1991.
Kent State (2006), Ohio (1999) and Northern Illinois (1991, 1992) have each had individual medalists at this event.
Western Michigan has played in the Mary Fossum Invitational four times during the 10-year history of its program. The Broncos' best finish came in the fall of 2002, finishing in a tie for eighth place in a 13-team field. The last time WMU participated in the event was the fall of 2004, finishing ninth.
SEARCH THE FIELD ? There are 11 teams in this year's Mary Fossum Invitational field, including three MAC teams. Along with WMU are Eastern Michigan, Kent State and Toledo. Host Michigan State is joined by fellow Big Ten teams Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota and Northwestern. Ferris State and Notre Dame round out the field.
A pair of teams in this year's field are ranked in the top 25 according to Golf Stat. Kent State comes into the event ranked No. 13, while the Spartans are ranked No. 20. Notre Dame is just on the outside looking in at No. 27.
NEXT ON THE TEE ? Western Michigan, for the second year in a row, will compete at the Xavier Invitational at the LPGA International in Daytona, Fla. The Broncos finished 10th in last year's event.
Laura Bavaird was WMU's top finisher, tying for ninth at 9-over par. The Broncos' top returning finisher is Elise Swartout, who tied for 33rd.
