School is back in session, the sun is shining bright and fall is just around the corner which can only mean one thing: Illinois women’s golf season is upon us.
Following a disappointing end to the 2023-24 campaign that saw the Illini finish 11th of 14 at the Big Ten championships, they will be working with a fresh slate for the 2024-25 season — first stop: Bettie Lou Evans Invitational in Lexington, Ky.
Led by Illini legend head coach Renee Slone, Illinois looks to climb back to the top of the Big Ten, something it has become used to after winning the 2023 Big Ten championship. With Slone, the 2019 Big Ten Coach of the Year, at the helm, Illinois is poised for a bounce-back season.
For the first time since 2019, Kentucky will host the Bettie Lou Evans Invitational in a 54-hole stroke play competition over three days. For the first time in the event’s existence, the Invitational will be hosted at Champion Trace at Keene Trace Golf Club, home of the ISCO Championship on the PGA Tour. The course will play as a par 72 and up to 6,394 yards this week.
The 11-team field consists of Kentucky, Akron, Eastern Kentucky, Houston, Illinois, Indiana, Louisville, Middle Tennessee, Missouri, Texas Christian and Washington State. Teams will tee off at designated times for the first two days, with Tuesday being a shotgun start.
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Illinois will have its work cut out as the host, Kentucky, has won three of the last four Bettie Lou Evans Invitationals including two straight in 2018 and 2019. Players, coaches and fans can all expect beautiful weather, as the forecast calls for clear skies and temperatures in the mid-to-high 70s all week.
The Illini will feature plenty of youth in 2024-25, as there is just one senior on the roster: Lexanne Halama.
This weekend, Halama will look to replicate her performance from last year’s opening tournament, the Cougar Classic, where she shot her career-low round of 67 (-4). Halama is the leader Illinois women’s golf will need this upcoming season and will look to build on her already-impressive resumé, as she is a two-time WGCA All-American Scholar, two-time Academic All-Big Ten and two-time Illinois Outstanding Scholar-Athlete.
Illinois faithful can look forward to the debut of promising freshman Brielle Burns as she begins her collegiate golf journey. Burns brings consistency to the squad, touting All-Southwest Preparatory Conference Honors for three straight years (2021-23).
The first teams will tee off Sunday at 8:30 a.m. EST and the Illini will start at 9:30 a.m. Junior Victoria Zheng, sophomore Yurang Li, junior Brielle Mapanao, Halama and Burns will compete for the Illini in spots 1-5 respectively while junior Anna Ritter plays as an independent.
