Juniors lead team to winning start

The women's golf team finished the the Big Ten championship tournament with their worst performance in 19 years with a sixth place finish.\nThe Hoosiers didn't improve their performance at the NCAA Central Regional, where they placed a disappointing 16th, failing to qualify for the NCAA Championship tournament. \nThis season those records have all changed. \nAfter failing to win any of its 13 tournaments last year, IU won its first campaign of the season, dominating the competition at the Wolverine Invitational in Ann Arbor, Mich. The Hoosiers shot 913 for the 54-hole tourney, breaking the Invitational's previous team-low score of 920, set by the 1997 IU team. They defeated the second-place Michigan squad by a staggering 15 strokes.\n"Last year, we had a legitimate chance to win three tournaments. This year we had the opportunity early on and we capitalized," coach Sam Carmichael said.\nIn addition to the Hoosiers' team success, juniors Karen Dennison and Ambry Bishop had even better individual scores. Dennison, after competing in her two worst tournaments in the season-ending Big Ten Championship and NCAA Central Regional, won the Wolverine Invitational with a record-breaking score of 219 over 54 holes. It was the first tournament victory of her three-year career.\n"It's obviously a good start to the season," Dennison said. "After last year, it helps to win, to know that we can do it. We basically have the same team, but we have more experience. That's probably our main difference."\nBishop, who didn't finish better than 37th in any tournament last year, is happy with her play and that of the entire team. She feels that the Hoosiers closeness on and off the golf course has something to do with their success on the links.\n"Golf is one of those sports that is pretty time-consuming. So it gives you a chance to spend a lot of time with your teammates and luckily, we all get along with each other," Bishop said. "We do a lot of stuff together on and off the golf course. A lot of us knew each other before we came to IU, since most of us are from Indiana."\nAs a matter of fact, eight of the 13 women on the team are from the Hoosier state, including both Dennison and Bishop.Their relationship is stereotypical for the team. \n"We're all very close. You don't find that too often where a team is as close as us," Dennison said. \nDennison, who went to Madison High School, and Bishop, who attended Franklin High School, both knew of each other before they got to IU. After becoming roommates last year, their relationship has blossomed from acquaintances to friends.\n"We shared the basement of an apartment at Hoosier Court," Bishop said. "It was nice rooming with someone who had the same schedule as you and we got along real well."\nDennison seconds that opinion.\n"When we see each other on the course, we'll always wave or smile. We'll make each other laugh and it keeps us relaxed," Dennison said.\nAfter both finished a record breaking start to the season, Dennison and Bishop now feel that this and next year could be banner years for the team.\n"We want a Big Ten title. And we're not content with regionals. We want to go the NCAA (Championships)," Bishop said. \nThe word "we" has been the most-said one by the two and that especially makes Carmichael a happy coach.\n"They root for each other. The camaraderie is just excellent. They are a team," Carmichael said. "And right now, this team has the opportunity to be a very fine one"