Wolverines to Head to Chapel Hill for Ruth's Chris Tar Heel Invitational

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The fall season will close with the University of Michigan women's golf team traveling to Tobacco Road for the Ruth's Chris Tar Heel Invitational, Friday through Sunday (Oct. 17-19). The three-day, 54-hole event will feature a 15-team field competing at the Finley Golf Club, which will be set up as a par 70, measuring 6,096 yards.

Notes

• The Wolverines will join a strong field that includes Auburn, Duke, Florida International, Kentucky, Louisville, Miami, N.C. State, North Carolina, Purdue, Rollins, South Carolina, UNC Wilmington, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest.

• U-M will travel five starters to Chapel Hill, N.C., with seniors Mara Janess, Lauren Sung and Sydney Sung joined by freshman standouts Vanessa Zhang and Reese Ng to spearhead the Wolverine lineup.

• This weekend marks Michigan's 10th appearance at the Ruth's Chris Tar Heel Invitational, continuing its tradition of competing on the Tobacco Road circuit. The Wolverines made their debut in 2012 and returned in 2016 before becoming a consistent presence in Chapel Hill. Although the 2020 tournament was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this year's appearance will be U-M's eighth straight at Finley Golf Club.

• Former Wolverine Hailey Borja owns Michigan's best individual finish at the event, tying for third in 2021 with a 210 (-6) total. During Finley's renovation year, Monet Chun added a third-place showing at the Governor's Club, carding a 208 (-8).

• U-M's best team performance came in 2022, when the Maize and Blue tied for fifth, led by Anika Dy's even-par 216 tally. Last fall, Michigan placed eighth, highlighted by Mara Janess (T-15, 216) and Sydney Sung (T-19, 217).

• Using back-to-back career-low-tying rounds of 69 (-3), Janess posted a career-best 54-hole total of 211 (-5) to tie for 11th at the Illini Women's Invitational at the prestigious Medinah Country Club, leading the Wolverines for the second straight event. With four of her last five rounds under par, Janess has lowered her season scoring average to a career-best 71.88 -- nearly two strokes better than her previous mark of 73.94 set last year.

• Continuing her impressive start to her collegiate career, Vanessa Zhang notched her third straight top-20 finish at the Illini Women's Invitational, posting a career-best 212 (-4) total to tie for 15th. After opening with a then-career-low 70 (-2), she bettered it in the final round with her first sub-70 score, a 69 (-3). Zhang opened her career tying for 16th (221) at the Wolverine Invitational and followed by tying for 17th (145, +1) in the weather-shortened Canadian Collegiate. She ranks third on the team with a 72.25 scoring average.

• After back-to-back 68s (-3), Lauren Sung recorded a career-low 209 (-4) total at the Wolverine Invitational to finish runner-up in the 81-player field -- marking the first top-five finish of her career. The consecutive 68s also marked the 12th and 13th sub-par rounds of her career, including her fifth and sixth rounds in the 60s. Sung is tied for the team lead with four sub-par tallies this fall and paces the Wolverines with a 71.25 scoring average.

• The Wolverine Invitational offered a preview of the U-M Golf Course, which will host one of six NCAA regional sites in May -- marking the second time in four years under head coach Jan Dowling. In her 13 seasons at the helm, Dowling has guided Michigan to eight NCAA postseason appearances, including four trips to the NCAA Finals.