Freshman Carolina Garrett shot 12-over in three rounds at the Ball State Cardinal Classic to finish tied for 27th on Tuesday. The 54-hole tournament took place Monday and Tuesday this week at the Players Club in Yorktown, Indiana.
Garrett was one of three individual players to represent the Hoosiers, along with senior Paige Crafton and freshman Emma Fisher. Crafton shot 23-over and finished tied for 65th with a 239, and Fisher placed 84th after shooting a 32-over 248. RL
The tournament was the first appearance of the season for all three players and was the IU debut for Garrett and Fisher. Garrett said her debut felt normal because of the redshirt year she took prior to this season.
“It was exciting and a little nerve-racking at the beginning, but it felt natural,” Garret said. “It didn’t feel like anything new because I was already playing with the girls.”
Garrett said IU’s choice to send individuals instead of the entire team didn’t disrupt her and actually relieved some pressure.
“Since I was traveling with some girls on the team, it wasn’t a strange experience because golf is such an individual sport,” she said. “But it made it a little bit easier not having the pressure to play with the whole team.”
Garrett finished day one of the tournament tied for 20th at 6-over 150 after shooting two 3-over 75 rounds. She shot a 6-over 78 in her final round Tuesday. Crafton finished the tournament with a 13-over 85 after opening with two straight 5-over 77 rounds.
IU Coach Clint Wallman said Fisher struggled with an illness Monday as she shot a 12-over 84 in both of the opening rounds. She finished off the tournament Tuesday with an 8-over 80, her best round.
“She hung in there and hit some really good shots,” Wallman said. “But it’s a long day, especially when you’re not feeling well and it kind of didn’t go the way she wanted it to, but it looked like she rebounded today and had some positive things to work on.”
Wallman said Garrett showed she has come a long way since she joined the team, and if she could have made a few more putts Monday would have recorded a better score.
Garrett echoed that sentiment and said this tournament gave her more confidence heading into the rest of the season.
“It showed me that I am right there, especially with the long game,” she said. “If I can get my putting and everything squared up then I am going to be good.”
Wallman said the tournament helped IU set it’s lineup heading into the next team-play event at Michigan State.
“We wanted to give everybody an opportunity to play in an event early in the season,” Wallman said. “It’s a really good barometer for us to see how people do in actual tournament conditions.”
IU’s next tournament starts Saturday when Michigan State is the host of the Mary Fossum Invite in East Lansing, Michigan. Two rounds will be played Saturday, and the final round will be played Sunday.
