04/18/08
After taking second in the Park University Spring Invitational Tuesday, the women’s golf team will be taking a few weeks off of tournament play to prepare for its regional tournament.
The Wildcats placed second behind Southwestern College by only six strokes, finishing as a team with a score of 718.
Senior Ashley Johnson led the way with a two-day total of 171, 82 strokes the first and 89 the second.
“As a whole, the team has been doing a really good job of staying focused for both days of the tournament,” Johnson said. “We’ve been showing up for both days, not just one, and it’s been really good for our team. We have a couple weeks to prepare for our fourth and final tournament, and we’ve been playing so well I think we can do well and get to nationals.”
Johnson placed third overall, while junior Melissa Brown placed fourth with a combined total of 173, shooting 85 and 88.
“It’s been pretty rough this season with the weather we’ve had,” Brown said. “We haven’t been able to practice as much as we’ve liked to, but we have been improving, even between the first and second day of the tournament.”
Despite the wind and tough course, Brown said the team played consistently and is still continuing to improve.
“The second day was harder than the first because of the wind. It was a really tough course, and we beat (Park University) by 20 on its home course, so that was really exciting.”
Freshman Dani Weimholt missed medaling by one stroke and finished with a combined total of 177, scoring 89 and 88.
Weimholt said the team is going to take the next few weeks to prepare for its regional tournament, which will be hosted by William Woods University in Columbia, Mo.
“We are all going to have to play consistently and try to eliminate the really bad holes,” she said. “I don’t know if any of the other girls have played the course, but I haven’t so that makes me nervous. We’ll have William Woods and Lindenwood (University) against us, and they’re tough competition. We have the potential, and it’s there, we just have to do it, and I know we can.”
Sophomore Amelia Harshfield and freshman Krista Yaktine both shot combined totals of 201 for the tournament.
Brown said the team has only continued to improve, which makes nationals an achievable goal.
“The whole team has been doing really well overall,” Brown said. “We’re all looking forward to regionals, which is coming up in about three weeks, and we want to get to nationals this year.”
The team will travel May 4 to Columbia, Mo., to compete in the regional tournament.
The men will travel to Smithville, Mo., Thursday and Friday to compete in the conference and regional tournament.