Skip to navigation Skip to content Skip to footer
Cleveland State University

The Official Home of the Cleveland State University Vikings

CSU Back in Action at Butler Spring Invitational

CSU Back in Action at Butler Spring Invitational
Posted: Mar 22, 2012

March 22, 2012

Contact: Greg Murphy

CLEVELAND, Ohio - Following a near two week layoff from competition, the Cleveland State women's golf team is back at it when the Vikings compete in the Butler Spring Invitational on Monday and Tuesday (March 26-27).

It will be CSU's second of four spring events leading up to the Horizon League Championship at the end of April.

The 36-hole event will be played at the par-72, 5,980 yard Prestwick G.C. in Avon, Ind.

"I am excited to get the girls back out on the course in a tournament atmosphere," head coach Steve Weir said. "I thought we played well in Florida and the team has been able to take advantage of the great weather we have been having to get in some work the last week or so."

The Vikings opened their spring season in Jacksonville, Fla., taking ninth place of 14 teams at the Benbow Invitational hosted by Butler. The event featured five other Horizon League schools with CSU finishing ahead of UIC and Green Bay and just one shot behind Youngstown State.

"Being our first event of the spring, I thought we competed very well," Weir said. "We still have a very young team, but I like they way that they competed and stayed mentally tough. The group is heading in the right direction and working extremely hard to get better each time out."

Junior Ariel Sparrow was CSU's top finisher, tying for 19th place with a 36-hole total of 160, carding an opening round 76 and second round 84.

Shelly Ford, who was playing as an individual, shot 84-81 (165) and tied for 28th.

Despite carding rounds of 330 and 334 as a team, the Vikings scoring average for the season is 324.8, putting CSU on pace to record the lowest scoring average in a season. The 2009-10 squad holds the current record at 333.4

The Vikings have posted five rounds of 320 or better this year. CSU entered the year with seven all-time rounds of 320 or better in the 10 year history of the program.

Included in this year's total was a school-record low of 312 in the final round of the fall at the Zippy Invitational.

"The team is capable of posting some low numbers," Weir said. "There is a lot of talent in the lineup from top to bottom and they just need to go out and execute."

Following the Butler Spring Invitational, the Vikings will be back in action at the IPFW Spring Classic on April 1-2.