The Panthers return to action today as they wrap up their fall schedule at the Evansville Braun Intercollegiate invitational.  The two-day event will be played at the Oak Meadow Country Club with 18 holes today and tomorrow on the Par 72 course.

The invitational will feature nine teams; host team Evansville, Eastern, Lipscomb, Indiana State, Butler, Valparaiso, Northern Kentucky, Tennessee State and Chicago State.

The last time the Panthers played in the EBII was last year, the women placed 10th out of 11 teams.

The women have struggled throughout their fall schedule this season failing to place in the top 10 in the 3 invites they’ve played this season.

Last week, the Panthers placed 14-of-14 qualifying teams in the Dayton Flyer invitational. Senior Alexandra Pickens led the way for the Panthers placing 32nd with the lowest round score of 78, but it wasn’t enough to help Eastern rise on the leaderboard.

Chloe Wong is finishing up her last fall schedule as a Panther and said she just wants to continue to succeed.

“I want to finish strong to end off my last fall season,” she said. “That will build up my confidence and motivation because it all leads up to the conference championship in the spring.”

Junior Anne Bahr said placing the ball in good spots will be key for the Eastern team in the upcoming invitational.

“I think being smarter about where we put the ball will be key,” she said. “You can get into some trouble at this course if you don’t keep it on front of you and in the fairway”

Pickens, completing her last fall schedule as an EIU golfer, said she has loved every moment of it.

“It’s pretty sad but I still have the spring season to look forward to,” she said. “Being on the golf team really taught me how to manage my time with athletics and school which will help me in my future.”

Vince Lovergine can be reached at 581-2812 or vplovergine@eiu.edu