The Ohio women’s golf team lands in Daytona Beach, Fla. this weekend to participate in the LPGA Xavier Invitational. The tournament will be played on the Championship Course at the LPGA International Golf Club. It is the penultimate tournament of the women’s fall golf season for Ohio.

The Bobcats are one of 15 teams competing in the event hosted by Xavier University. The event will take place over the weekend, with the first two rounds being played on Saturday followed by the final on Sunday. Coach Jeff Hetler sees this tournament as a nice opportunity for Ohio.

“I think the girls will get to play in better conditions, because it is in Florida,” Hetler said. “I think it is supposed to be low- to mid-80s all weekend, so that will be nicer than playing in the Midwest.”

Ohio’s card for the tournament will include freshmen Jordan Fesh and Erin Cahill, sophomores Colleen Lienesch and Lauren Bergman and senior Katie Stafford. The Bobcats have only one senior and one junior on this year’s roster. This could seem like a disadvantage, but Hetler is pleased with the progress he has seen.

“The freshmen have all been contributing, and I have been rotating all three sophomores,” Hetler said. “I would like to see my upperclassmen step it up a little bit, but they have never seen this course, so they’ll be in the same situation as the rest of the team.”

The Bobcats were invited to play in the event two years ago when Xavier was originally planning it. They were told that if they didn’t accept at that moment, there probably wouldn’t be a spot for them when it finally took place.

“I accepted then because I thought it would be a unique opportunity,” Hetler said. “These girls rarely get to play on this type of course with Bermuda grass and faster greens.”

Bowling Green and Western Michigan are the only other Mid-American Conference schools that will join the Bobcatsin Daytona.