Hoosiers struggle at Rio Verde Invite

IU women's golf coach Clint Wallman was excited for his Hoosier team to compete at the Rio Verde Invitational in Rio Verde, Ariz. Fortunately, the Hoosiers were up to the test as they rallied to finish 12th in the 15-team field. \n"This tournament's field has a much wider of variety of teams," he said. "We should be able to compete better in this field, but it still has some tough teams."\nThe Hoosiers, pacing themselves near the back end of the pack, had a strong showing on the final day to finish in 12th place. Led by senior Shannon Johnson's 76, the Hoosiers carded a 310 to finish at 940, only 15 shots behind fifth-placed Western Michigan. Eventual champion Northwestern carded an 889.\nWallman was optimistic as he talked about the final round and the continued improvement of his team. \n"I thought we gave ourselves a lot of chances today," Wallman said. "We had a little trouble on the greens, but if we keep hitting shots like we hit today, we are bound to start dropping some putts."\nThe Hoosiers were led by Johnson, who fired two rounds of 76 and a round of 74 on the challenging White Wing Golf Course in Rio Verde.\n"I thought Shannon had a decent day by her standards," Wallman said heading into the final round. "She had a tough time with her putts, but for her to score a 74 when she is struggling on the greens is pretty good."\nSophomore Elaine Harris, whose improvement has been well-documented, continued to show consistency and low scores by stroking three consecutive rounds of 78.\nFreshman Tara Boone also got in on the low-scoring action as she fired her 18, 36 and 54-hole bests while making only her second career start at the college level. Her 80-80-78 tied her at 49th overall. Another freshman, Amber Lindgren, also made the trip out west and carded rounds of 83-84-78 to finish one stroke behind teammate Katie Carlson, who scored well with an 82-82-80. Senior Molly Redfearn rounded out the Hoosier scoring as she tallied rounds of 82-85-86, good enough for a three-day score of 253. \nThe rigorous travel of the Hoosiers isn't over yet. After coming home from Puerto Rico last week and now having completed the Rio Verde tournament, the Hoosiers will have to fly back west to Henderson, Nev., for the UNLV Spring Invitational March 13-15.