Dale McNamara Invitational under way at Cedar Ridge
TULSA, Okla. –– Fresh off a victory at the Barbara Nicklaus Cup, the Tulsa Golden Hurricane women’s golf team return to action this week by hosting The Dale McNamara Invitational, Monday-Tuesday, October 10-11.
Named for TU golf coaching legend Dale McNamara, the event will be played at the par-72, 6,233-yard Cedar Ridge Country Club course, located in Broken Arrow, Okla., a suburb of Tulsa. The 54-hole two-day tournament will play two rounds of 18 holes on Monday and the final 18 holes will be played on Tuesday. It will be a shotgun start beginning at 8:30 a.m. on both Monday and Tuesday.
The 13-team field includes: Boise State, BYU, James Madison, Kansas State, Middle Tennessee, Nebraska, North Texas, ORU, Sacramento State, Sam Houston State, South Florida, UTSA and host Tulsa.
McNamara coached 26 years at The University of Tulsa and took the golf program from the ground floor to national prominence, winning four national championships. Her first national crown came at the 1980 AIW National Championship. McNamara’s 1982 team won the final AIAW Championship, while winning the first-ever NCAA Championship that same season. Led by individual champion and daughter Melissa, Tulsa’s 1988 team captured the school’s fourth national golf title and second NCAA crown.
McNamara retired from coaching following the 1999-2000 season after winning 81 tournament titles and coaching 28 first- or second-team All-Americans.
The Dale McNamara Invitational is the 23rd regular season collegiate golf tournament that Tulsa has hosted since the inception of the women’s golf program in 1974-75. It’s the eighth Dale McNamara Invitational. In the previous 22 Tulsa-hosted tournaments the Golden Hurricane has won 10 titles.
Last year, UNLV claimed the team title and Nebraska finished in second place at the par-72 Golf Club of Oklahoma course. The Hurricane placed 10th overall.
Tulsa has placed among the top-3 in two of three tournaments this year. The Hurricane opened the season with a third-place finish behind LSU and Nebraska at the Green Wave Fall Classic and last week claimed the team title at the eight-team Barbara Nicklaus Cup at the Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio.
Senior Lilly Thomas tied for third place at the Green Wave Fall Classic to lead all five Tulsa golfers that placed among the top-22. At the Nicklaus Cup, freshman Grace Kilcrease placed in a second-place tie, while sophomore Lovisa Gunnar finished in eighth place.
Freshman Jenni Roller of Jenks is playing in the event as an individual.