Hoosier golfers travel to Puerto Rico to start spring competitions

Playing in their first tournament since Oct. 31, the Hoosiers head to San Juan, Puerto Rico for the Lady Puerto Rico Classic this weekend. The tournament is hosted by rival Purdue and begins today and runs through Sunday. \nThe team is coming off a successful fall campaign that saw it score its first team win in a tournament since 2002, in the Lady Badger Invitational on Sept. 11. \nOther highlights from the fall season included a fourth-place finish in a very strong field, as well as strong individual performances with at least one player finishing in the top 15 in every tournament. \nIU coach Clint Wallman is hoping that the Hoosiers can open the spring season the same way they did in the fall.\n“Our goal is to win every tournament we play in and if we play smart we’ll have that opportunity,” Wallman said.\nThe Hoosiers have been bolstered by the addition of two new players to the team for the spring semester. One player is freshman Emily Johnson, who will get to remove her redshirt status this semester and become an active player. \nThe other is junior Lauren Harling, who transferred to IU from North Carolina State.\nHarling said she is looking forward to this opportunity and can’t wait to start.\n“I am really excited,” Harling said. “I am ready to start contributing and cannot wait to get out there.”\nWallman gave the new players high praise and thinks they can contribute a lot to the team.\n“(Harling and Johnson) are adding a lot to the team in terms of chemistry and depth and I am very excited about what they are bringing to IU,” he said. \nCompeting in this week’s tournament for the Hoosiers are freshmen Kellye Belcher, Anita Gahir and Laura Nochta, as well as sophomore Amber Lindgren and juniors Harling and Elaine Harris. \nGahir, who was the top-scoring Hoosier at the Edwin Watts/Palmetto Intercollegiate Tournament at the close of the fall season, said she is enthusiastic about this weekend.\n“I am so excited to get started,” Gahir said. “It has been a while since we have played and we have worked hard in the off-season to prepare for this”. \n Wallman said even if they do not get the win he has a positive outlook for the season.\n“If we play hard and make good decisions that is all you can ask,” he said.