The Butler women's golf team opens the 2019-20 season Sunday with the Redbird Invitational, hosted by Illinois State University.
 
The event will include 36 holes Sunday, followed by a final 18 on Monday. Play will begin at 8 a.m. (CT) Sunday. The final round tees off at 8:30 a.m. (CT) Monday.
 
Weibring Golf Club in Normal, Ill., will host the tournament. The course will be set up at 6,010 yards with a par of 72.
 
Butler is joined in the 17-team field by the host Redbird, BIG EAST rival Xavier, Akron, Ball State, Bowling Green, Bradley, Drake, Eastern Kentucky, Evansville, Indiana State, IUPUI, Loyola Chicago, Northern Illinois, Ohio, Southern Illinois, and Western Illinois.
 
The event serves as the first for Christie Cates as head coach of the program. The Butler graduate previously served as an assistant before taking over the women's program this summer.
 
Cates' line-up will include Ally Ross, Katelyn Le, Claire Edwards, Nicole Jordan, and Emma Kelly. Betsy Werner will play as an individual.
 
The event serves as the first Butler action for the freshman Kelly. Le and Ross are the top two returning scorers from a season ago following the graduation of standout Lauren Tibbets.
 
It is one of Cates' former teammates, Abigail Gleixner, who holds the program's best finish at the Redbird Invitational. In 2016, Gleixner posted a 54-hole score of 213, which is the third-best in tournament history (and good for second on the 2016 leaderboard). Her first-round score of 69 is tied for the event's fifth-best single round.
 
Live Results will be available on Birdiefire.