MVC CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – A fourth place finish at the Indiana State Invite has the University of Evansville women’s golf team feeling good as they prepare for the Missouri Valley Conference Championship, which will take place from April 20-22.
Panther Creek Golf Club in Springfield, Ill. will play host to the tournament. Fifty-four holes comprise the event with 18 holes being played on each of the three days of action. The course was professionally designed by PGA Hall of Fame golfer Hale Irwin and opened in 1992. In its short history, the course has played host to several high profile events including the LPGA’s State Farm Classic, the Illinois State Amateur and the Great Lakes Valley Men’s Championship.
Evansville has faced stiff conference competition over the last three weeks. True freshman Kayla Katterhenry has emerged as one of the top golfers in the league over that stretch. The native of Newburgh was victorious in two of those events while finishing third in Terre Haute. Her victories came at the Saluki Invitational and the Bradley Invitational.
Katterhenry finished the regular season with the No. 2 average in the Valley. Her 76.29 was behind only Danielle Lemek of Bradley. In head-to-head competition, Katterhenry beat Lemek in two out of three events.
Aside from Katterhenry’s third place finish, Paige Crafton had a solid outing. After posting an 82 in the opening round, Crafton improved by six strokes on Monday to finish in a tie for 11th place with a 158.
Just behind her was Cathy Doyle, who checked in with a 159. Doyle missed the opening match of the spring, but has come on strong since that point. In four events, the junior has registered three top 17 finishes while her lowest finish was a 26th.
Freshman Maggie Camp has also come on strong as of late. In the final round at Indiana State, camp shot her low round of the spring, a 77, on her way to a tie for 30th place. An interesting note on Camp is that she gets better as tournaments go along. This spring, her second-round totals are 20 strokes lower than her opening round.
Illinois State has had the upper hand in the league, winning five of the last six conference championships. Sandwiched in the middle was a victory by Missouri State in 2012. The Bears topped the Redbirds by three strokes that season. Evansville came home in ninth place last season.
