MIAMI (February 26, 2017) -- After a one-day tournament four weeks ago, the FIU women's golf program returns to the course in what is essentially a home tournament, at the Hurricane Invitational, hosted by the University of Miami. The 54-hole event will take place across three days, Monday through Wednesday, at the Biltmore Golf Course in Coral Gables. The course will have a par-72, 6,150-yard layout.
FIU will be paired with USF and Mercer, the second group of teams off the tenth tee, starting at 8:10 a.m. on Monday morning.
The Panthers have made the most of the layoff period, working on strength and conditioning to build up the players' core strength and fitness levels to get through the rest of the season.
"There are 15 teams and this should be a very competitive week," said FIU Head Coach Joe Vogel. "We need to be peaking at the right time and have all of our players put it together at the right time. We are hoping we can take advantage of our course knowledge. We have practiced well with our great weather and are healthy. We have gotten stronger with our strength program and I feel great about where we are physically."
In addition to the host Hurricanes the Panthers, USF and Mercer, the field also includes Barry, East Carolina, Iowa State, Louisville, Michigan, Middle Tennessee, Minnesota, Northwestern, Penn State, South Dakota State and Virginia Tech.
Through five tournaments, senior
Camila Serrano (Bogota, Colombia) is the team leader with a 72.6 stroke average. She has eight of her 14 rounds at or below par this season. In three tournaments played, she has finished in the top five.
Junior
Katerina Krasova (Ricany, Czech Republic) sits second on the squad with a stroke average of 74.7, with five of her 14 rounds at par or better. She has a top-ten finish to her credit this season.
The Panthers will remain in the state of Florida to compete at the 2017 SunTrust Gator Women's Invitational in Gainesville in two weeks.
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About FIU Athletics: FIU Athletics is home to more than 400 student-athletes in 18 different sports, and is a proud member of Conference USA. Athletic events are played in seven different venues on FIU's campuses (Modesto A. Maidique and Biscayne Bay), including FIU Arena and the FIU Football Stadium.
About FIU: Florida International University is recognized as a Carnegie engaged university. It is a public research university with colleges and schools that offers more than 180 bachelor's, master's and doctoral programs in fields such as engineering, international relations, architecture, law and medicine. As one of South Florida's anchor institutions, FIU contributes $9.8 billion each year to the local economy. FIU is Worlds Ahead in finding solutions to the most challenging problems of our time. FIU emphasizes research as a major component of its mission. FIU has awarded over 200,000 degrees and enrolls more than 54,000 students in two campuses and three centers including FIU Downtown on Brickell, FIU@I-75, and the Miami Beach Urban Studios. FIU also supports artistic and cultural engagement through its three museums: the Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum, the Wolfsonian-FIU, and the Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU. FIU is a member of Conference USA and has over 400 student-athletes participating in 18 sports. For more information about FIU, visit http://www.fiu.edu/.
