IU women's golf team nets 3rd straight Top 5 finish

The IU women’s golf team has placed sky-high expectations on itself this fall. \nDespite leaving the Wolverine Invitational in Ann Arbor, Mich., with their third straight Top 5 finish to open the season, the Hoosiers thought they should have done better.\nIU coach Clint Wallman said his squad had the personnel to get a victory \nthis week.\n“This team is loaded with talent,” Wallman said. “We can win any tournament and had an opportunity to win this one \nand didn’t.”\nSophomore Laura Nochta led IU individually in scoring, notching a career-best second-place finish. The team placed third.\nNochta said she was happy with her individual play afterward.\n“I made birdies, which I have not been doing,” Nochta said. “I didn’t hit the ball as hard as I could, but my short game was really good, so overall, I am pleased.”\nAlso competing for IU were senior Elaine Harris and junior Amber Lindgren, who both placed 17th. Sophomore Kellye Belcher placed 21st. \nSenior Lauren Harling, who placed 32nd, completed IU’s lineup. \nHarling said she believes both she and the team had a better finish in them than what they ended with.\n“I didn’t play as well as I could, and the team really didn’t play well, as this was our worst tournament,” Harling said.\nNotre Dame won the tournament as a team, and Wisconsin, IU, host Michigan and Eastern Michigan rounded out the Top 5, respectively.\nIU returns to action one week from today when the team competes in the Johnie Imes Invitational in Columbia, Mo. \nWallman said the Hoosiers have some work to do \nbefore then.\n“We have some things we need to improve on,” he said. “Even though you can’t always play well, this wasn’t our best tournament as a team.”