The Western Illinois University Leathernecks women’s golf team will start its spring season at the 7th Annual Lamar Cardinal Challenge in Beaumont, Texas, on March 30-31.
This event marks the team’s return to competition since participating in the Braun Intercollegiate last October. The tournament is an opportunity for the Leathernecks to assess their progress and compete against other collegiate teams early in the season.
At their previous outing, Western Illinois finished with a combined score of 716 (+140) over two rounds. Sophia Thorne led her team across both rounds, while Dina Khvastovic also performed well. Libby Larkin and Cianna Law completed the lineup as the Leathernecks showed consistent play throughout that tournament.
According to the official website, Western Illinois University Leathernecks Women’s Golf competes in the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) according to the official website. In preseason predictions released by the OVC ahead of this season, Western Illinois was picked to finish ninth with 12 points. Morehead State was selected as preseason favorite, followed by Little Rock and Tennessee Tech. Thorne earned a spot on this year’s OVC Players to Watch list after her strong performance last year.
Charlton Zimmerman serves as director of golf for Western Illinois University Leathernecks Women’s Golf according to the official website. The program operates from Macomb, Illinois according to the official website and participates in collegiate athletics within its conference per the official website.
The Lamar Cardinal Challenge will be held at Beaumont Golf Course, which is a par-72 course playing at 6,703 yards over two rounds starting Monday morning. Competing teams include Blinn College, Midwestern State University, Lamar University (the host), University of Incarnate Word and Western Illinois.
