Women’s golf team prepares for Hoosier Fall Invitational

Members of the IU women’s golf team have found their biggest strength in each other this fall season.

“There’s a genuine feel of camaraderie amongst the team,” IU Coach Clint Wallman said. “They’re very much together as a unit.”

That strength is needed when the team isn’t performing to its highest potential.

This weekend’s Hoosier Fall Invitational will take place at Hickory Stick Golf Club in Greenwood, Ind., with the Hoosiers as host.

It will be the last tournament for the women’s team until it returns for its spring season in February.

The team’s last tournament, a Golfweek Conference Challenge on the weekend of Sept. 24, ended with a 17th-place finish on Friday and 16th-place finish on Saturday and Sunday, a result that Wallman said wasn’t quite what IU wanted.

“The last couple of events haven’t gone the way that they wanted to,” Wallman said. “At that point any team can go sideways a bit, but this team hasn’t done that.”

Assistant Coach Lauren Harling said the team also has a lot of initiative to improve its game.

“Golf is so individual, and it can be really hard for each girl to manage her day,” Harling said. “They have taken it upon themselves to condition separately from their practices.”

During the season, the team morale has been boosted more by actions than by words.

“Golf is naturally not a very high intensity game, so a lot of the girls are soft-spoken and lead more by example than anything,” Harling said.

Wallman said when the team does need leaders, sophomore Maria Mancini and junior Elizabeth Tong have done their part to stand out and guide the rest of the girls.

“Maria has been very instrumental in leading the way,” Wallman said. “Elizabeth has worked very hard in terms of extra work and extra range time.”

Both Mancini and Tong competed in each of the three prior events this season.

Since its last tournament, IU has been working on improving various aspects of the game.

Harling said the team has started having 6:30 a.m. practices and has been working on its version of the red zone.

“We have spent 90 to 95 percent of our time working on converting our opportunities into scores,” Wallman said. “And we have had better results.”

When asked what she is most proud of this fall season, Harling said initiative.
She said that the team is very hard-working and always willing to do extra in order to achieve better scores.  

With the fall season coming to an end after this weekend’s tournament, Wallman summed up his advice for the girls with a simple slogan.

“Know your target,” he said.

Follow reporter Nicole Krasean on Twitter @ids_nkrasean.