Rough weather causes headaches for IU in Texas

Hampered by rough weather and a strong field that featured 14 teams ranked in the top 50, the No. 45 Hoosiers stumbled to a 10th-place finish at the Betsy Rawls Longhorn Invitational in Austin, Texas. \nThe tournament was shortened from three rounds to two after rain and high winds struck the University of Texas Golf Club.\nIU coach Clint Wallman attributed IU’s poor finish to the weather conditions. \n“We’ve run into some rugged weather and rain delays that caused everyone’s score to be high,” Wallman said.\nLeading the Hoosiers for the second straight tournament was senior Lauren Harling, who placed 32nd after making a bogey on five of her last six holes. \nHarling also said the rough conditions contributed to the Hoosiers’ finish.\n“We were pushing hard out there,” Harling said. “The conditions got worse, and we had a tough finish on the last few holes.” \nFollowing Harling were sophomores Laura Nochta and Anita Gahir, who placed 38th and 47th, respectively. Both players struggled with the weather at the end of the tournament as Nochta shot a six over par on her final five holes while Gahir made triple bogeys on each of her final two holes. \nRounding out the lineup for IU were sophomore Kellye Belcher and senior Elaine Harris, who both finished the tournament in 72nd place. Harris attributed her struggles to a rough period that every golfer goes through.\n“You go up and down, and it is part of the game,” Harris said. \nNo. 22 New Mexico won the tournament, while No. 5 Florida, No. 32 Texas, No. 6 Arkansas and No. 24 TCU rounded out the top five. \nWinning the individual title was Arkansas’ Stacy Lewis, who is currently the top-ranked college golfer in the country. Lewis edged out Florida’s No. 18 Whitney Myers by one stroke in a tournament where every golfer finished at least seven-over-par.\nIU returns to action March 30 - 31 when it heads to Tucson, Ariz., for the Mountain View Invitational.\nThe course is the same venue where the Hoosiers recorded a third-place finish last spring.\nHarris, who won the tournament’s individual title last year, thinks the Invitational might be a perfect cure for the Hoosiers’ recent struggles.\n“We will get back and work hard,” she said. “I won at Arizona last year, and we like that field.”