EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Women's Golf tees off the 2023-24 season by playing in The Velvet, hosted by Murray State University, at the Paducah Country Club in Paducah, Kentucky.
The Velvet Tournament honors former Murray State head coach Velvet Milkman, who launched the Racers' women's golf program in 1993 and coached for 29 seasons. Milkman retired in 2022. The tournament runs Monday through Tuesday. Play will begin at 8:30 a.m. on both days. Teams will play 36 holes on Monday and 18 on Tuesday.
Other participating teams are Bellarmine University, Belmont University, University of Evansville, Indiana Wesleyan University, Murray State University, University of Northern Iowa, Northern Kentucky University, Southern Illinois University, and Tennessee State University.
Southern Indiana is coming off its first NCAA Division I season in 2022-23. The Screaming Eagles competed in eight regular-season tournaments last year, placing inside the top 10 three times in larger-field tournaments and earning a top-five finish to conclude the regular season. In April, the Eagles placed sixth in their first appearance at the Ohio Valley Conference Championship.
USI has a solid nucleus returning in 2023-24, including junior
Baileigh Schneider (Huntingburg, Indiana). Schneider was voted OVC Women's Golfer of the Week once last season after her top-10 performance at The Julie with a two-round score of 148 (+6), which included a USI season-best 72 during the tournament. Schneider competed in all nine tournaments, tying a team-high 24 rounds played to earn an 84.63 strokes per round average (spra). Also back for USI is senior
Haylee Exline (Poseyville, Indiana), who kicked off her USI career in 2022-23 with a team-low 83.09 strokes per round average (spra) after competing in eight tournaments. Exline had two top-20 finishes and carded a team-best 73 during the OVC Championship. Southern Indiana has two additional seniors returning in
Halle Gutwein (DeMotte, Indiana) and
Katelyn Sayyalinh (Rockford, Illinois).
The Velvet will open a 2023-24 campaign for USI currently scheduled for seven regular-season tournaments, including five in the fall, and the OVC Championship in April.
