Women’s Golf Begins 2021 Spring Season on Sunday

EAST LANSING – The Michigan State women’s golf team will officially open the 2021 spring season on Sunday with the UCF Challenge at Eagle Creek Golf Club in Orlando, Florida. The 54-hole event will take place Sunday-Tuesday, with 18 holes per day.
 
The Field
The highly-competitive 17-team field includes Arkansas, College of Charleston, Houston, Iowa State, Kennesaw State, Kent State, Kentucky, Miami, Michigan State, Mississippi State, NC State, Penn State, Purdue, UCF, UNC-Wilmington, Virginia and Wake Forest.
 
The Lineup
Michigan State will go with Valery Plata, Haylin Harris, Yurika Tanida, Leila Raines and Paz Marfa Sans. The Spartans will tee off between 9:40 – 10:20 a.m. on Sunday.
 
The Course
The par-72 Eagle Creek Golf Club will play at 6,349-yards. The course was designed by world-renowned golf course architects Ron Garl and Howard Swan.
 
Event History
The Spartans had one of their best outings of last season at the UCF Challenge as MSU took second place as a team, while Yurika Tanida tied for second place with a 7-under-par 209. As a team, the Spartans shot a 15-under-par 849, which was the third-lowest total in program history. This will mark the third consecutive season the Spartans will compete in the UCF Challenge.
 
Live Scoring
Golfstat
 
The Spartans
A trio of Spartans – Valery Plata, Haylin Harris and Yurika Tanida – were named to the Preseason Big Ten Golfers to Watch List … MSU returns three All-Big Ten performers from last season, including the 2020 Player of the Year in Plata … Tanida (first team) and Paz Marfa Sans (second team) also garnered all-conference honors last season … Plata reached the semifinals of the U.S. Women’s Amateur in August and was one of three Spartans to compete in the event, which also included Harris and Tanida … MSU welcomes a pair of freshmen for this season in Leila Raines (Galena, Ohio) and Valentina Rossi (Rosario, Argentina).