Feb. 12, 2006

ENSENADA, Mexico - The Marshall women's golf team kicks off its spring season on Monday at the Baja Invitational for a two-day tournament at the Vista and Oceanos courses at the beautiful Baja Mar Resort.

The 54-hole event begins with an 8 a.m. shotgun start on Monday (36 holes), followed by the final 18 holes at 7:30 a.m. on Tuesday.

Seven members of the Herd will compete this week for Marshall head coach Meredith Knight-Rowsey. Juniors Amber Churchill (Dublin, Ohio), Meredith Crislip (Parkersburg, W.Va.), Allyson Hatcher (Wheeling, W.Va.), Stacy Wagner (Harmony, Pa.) and Tammy Mahar (Ashland, Ky.) will join senior Jodie Switzer (Collingwood, Ontario) and sophomore Whitney Wolejko (Hatfield, Mass.) in the season's opening event.

Churchill and Hatcher were neck-and-neck during the fall season, each finishing the 11-round competition with 852 strokes apiece (77.45 average). Hatcher was the lone member of the team to post medalist honors in the fall by winning the Lady Herd Fall Invitational in September. Churchill finished just two strokes behind her teammate in the MU-hosted event in a tie for second place.

Mahar, who played only eight rounds in the fall, scored a 79.75 stroke average for third place on the team.

Seven teams will participate in the Baja Invitational. Joining Marshall is BYU, Eastern Kentucky, Middle Tennessee State, Nebraska, Northern Illinois and Southern Miss.

Both courses in which the Herd will play on are nine-hole venues. The Vista Course is a par-36, 3,032-yard course while the Oceanos Course is a par-36, 3,085-yard course.