Northern Michigan University women’s sophomore golfer Maddy Martens tees off during the 2024-25 season at the Warrior Invitational in suburban Detroit in late September, when she finished tied for sixth place. (Photo courtesy NMU)

MARQUETTE — The women’s golf team at Northern Michigan University opens its season in a few days at the Warrior Invitational in suburban Detroit.

Much like the men did this past week, this tourney will be held on a Monday and Tuesday and be hosted by a fellow member of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

And the women will also have a first-day marathon on their hands like the guys did, being scheduled to play two 18-hole rounds on Monday with a third round on Tuesday.

The men at the Bulldog Fall Classic at Ferris State in Big Rapids earlier this week couldn’t quite finish off 36 holes in one day despite starting at 9 a.m., playing the last three or four holes on Tuesday before completing the full round scheduled that day.

That’s the schedule on Monday and Tuesday for the women at the Warrior Invitational hosted by Wayne State and being played at the The Orchards Golf Club in Washington, really Washington Township, in Macomb County.

Live scoring for the tournament is available online at https://scoreboard.clippd.com/tournaments/240356/scoring/team, or by visiting the NMU athletic website at nmuwildcats.com and looking under the women’s golf schedule for links to live scoring and a tournament preview.

Thirteen teams are scheduled to play, including most or all of the GLIAC members that have a team. The field is led by national No. 10 and regional No. 2 Grand Valley State, while also with strong teams are national No. 42 and regional No. 6 Ferris State and national No. 64 and regional No. 8 Wayne State.

A weather forecast for Macomb County from The Weather Channel on weather.com shows temperatures forecast for the mid to upper 70s and fairly light winds with a nearly 50% chance of rain each day.

Last year at this tournament held on almost the same dates, NMU finished sixth of nine teams, with then-freshman Maddy Martens having a breakout performance at the same course, shooting 11-over-par for two rounds to finish tied for sixth place. Her second-round 74 that featured four birdies rocketed her 10 spots up the leaderboard from her first-round position.

The Northern women’s team’s next tourney will be its version of the Bulldog Fall Classic hosted by Ferris State on Saturday and Sunday.

The NMU men get out on the course again the following Monday and Tuesday, Sept. 29-30, at the Motor City Shakedown hosted by Wayne State in Dearborn.

Story contents based on Northern Michigan University Sports Information press release reviewing/previewing the games/meet. Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee’s email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.