Shaking off the rust in Texas

All winter long, the weather forced the IU women's golf team to practice indoors. Monday, after finally getting outside and competing in a tournament, Mother Nature again payed it a visit. \nThe No. 21 Hoosiers had to battle the elements this week at the Verizon "Mo"Morial in Houston as rain shortened the tournament from 54 holes to 36. But, the rain allowed the team to regroup after a poor start to the first round Monday. The Hoosiers bounced back with a tournament-best second round and a fourth place finish. \nIU coach Sam Carmichael said the weather was a significant factor in the team's high first-round scores.\n"Blackhorse is a good, tough golf course, but the weather attributed to a lot of the high scores," Carmichael said. "It was cold and misty when we started (Monday), but it started to rain so much after the first couple of holes, the course became unplayable."\nAfter the team stumbled to a first round 324, the Hoosiers came out firing in the final round. Spurred by strong individual performances by juniors Karen Dennison and Danah Ford, the Hoosiers were able to place fourth out of 19 teams. \nFord and Dennison's efforts contributed to the lowest round of the tournament as a team. The Hoosiers' second round performance (299) improved 25 strokes from their first round total. During the first round, Ford struggled as she shot seven bogeys, but in the final round she carded five birdies to finish with a second round score of 70 (-2). Ford's second round was the lowest round of any golfer in the tournament. Dennison shot a final round 73 to finish at +3 for the tournament and take second place. Ford's performance vaulted her from 21st at the end of the first round to share third place. \nBaylor University won the team title with a 610 (+34) and senior Melanie Hagewood of Baylor won the individual title, finishing at +1 overall. Arkansas and Tulane finished second and third with scores of 617 and 619, respectively. \nJunior Ambry Bishop, senior Cara Stuckey and freshman Molly Redfearn rounded out the tournament for the Hoosiers. Bishop and Stuckey both shot a final round 78 after rough first rounds. Bishop finished in a tie for 59th place and Stuckey tied for 74th. Redfearn, who did not play in the Hoosiers' tournament last week, showed signs of rust as she finished in a tie for 97th place, second to last.\nThe Hoosiers next compete in Florida on March 19, where they will play against Rutgers.