Women's Golf | September 14

NORMAL, Ill.— Led by a pair of top-30 individual finishes, the Northern Illinois University women's golf team opened its season with a seventh-place finish at the Redbird Invitational, hosted by Illinois State University.
 
"It was great to see all six girls compete this weekend," said Kim Kester, NIU's Head Coach. "It's the first tournament of the year so the team was excited and ready to compete. Nethra bounced back after yesterday, some nerves as a freshman, but proud of her bounce back. We have to fix some little things and prevent them from happening at the next event."
 
Dakota Tallent (Las Vegas, Nevada/Bishop Gorman) led the Huskies, finishing in the top 25 after carding a round of par during the tournament. Tallent recorded eight birdies across the three rounds, including birdies on the 18th hole in both the first and second rounds.
 
Thanaporn "Benzy" Buakong (Nonthaburi, Thailand/Yothinburanan School) also finished in the top 30 in her NIU debut. Buakong carded a round of par in the second round and recorded nine birdies across the tournament. She matched Tallent with birdies on the 18th hole in the first and second rounds and added a birdie on the 17th hole in both the second and third rounds.
 
Emile Chile (Flower Mound, Texas/Flower Mound) opened the tournament with three birdies in her first round before recording birdies on the opening and closing holes of her second round.
 
Making their NIU debuts, Nethra Sheri (Irving, Texas/Coppell) recorded a birdie in both her first and third rounds, while Christine Huse (Bærum, Norway/Norwegian Top Athlete School) posted three birdies across the second and third rounds.
 
Eva Nijenhuis (Heiloo, Netherlands/OSG Willem Blaeu) rounded out the Huskies' lineup with a birdie in her opening round and two more in the second round.
 
"Going into this next tournament, it's making sure we are staying healthy and prepared," Kester said. "We'll get better in areas that we didn't do as well in this week and continue to make progress. Excited for the year. We are excited to make strides this fall and continue improving for the spring semester."
 
The Huskies return to action on September 20-21 as they compete at the Mary Fossum Invitational, hosted by Michigan State University. Action will take place at Forest Akers Golf Course in East Lansing, Michigan.
 
Follow the NIU Women's Golf team all season long on Facebook, Twitter/X, and Instagram.
 
 
Huskie Scorecard
 
T24 | Dakota Tallent, 72-75-79=226
T28 | Benzy Buakong, 78-72-77=227
T31 | Emile Chile, 74-75-79=228
51 | Nethra Sheri, 78-82-76=236
T52 | Christine Huse, 80-76-81=237
71 | Eva Nijenhuis, 84-81-85=250*
 
7 | NIU, 302-298-311, 911
 
*Competed as Individual