Hoosiers to begin spring season abroad

According to Weather.com, the high temperature in Bloomington Sunday is forecasted to be 50 degrees. In San Juan, Puerto Rico, the high temperature is forecasted to be 84 degrees.

This is among the reasons why members of the IU women’s golf team said they were ready to play this Sunday in Puerto Rico.

The last time any of the Hoosier golfers have hit a shot in a competitive round was late October. IU Coach Clint Wallman said he believes his team has handled the break well and will be ready for competition again Sunday. Wallman said he can see several ways this upcoming team would be successful.

“For us, accomplishing making it to the postseason and making it to the National Championship can be considered a success,” he said. “Competing for a Big Ten championship could be a success. Anything in the postseason would be a success, because it is more of a culmination of your entire season’s work.”

Sophomore golfer Elizabeth Tong shared the same sentiment when it came to overall team success. She said she has multiple goals set for both the team and herself in the upcoming season.

“We had a great fall season, so I definitely think we are pretty pumped about the spring,” she said. “We are pretty confident that we can duplicate that success and keep rolling into the spring. For the team, I think if we can make it into the Top 50 and advance to regionals that would be great.
 
“As for myself, I have set a couple goals such as winning a couple tournaments and keeping my scoring average under 75 (per round) for the year. If we (and myself) can obtain those goals, I think it will be a successful season.”

Looking ahead to Sunday in particular, players were buzzing about getting to travel out of country and kicking off the spring season in a tropical venue.

“Personally, the event I am looking forward to in the spring more than any other is the one coming up this weekend in Puerto Rico because the defending 2012 NCAA champion team, (Alabama University),is in the field and that’s going to be a great test for us to see where we are at early,” Tong said.

Don’t think, though, that it’s all going to be fun in the sun for Wallman’s team this weekend. Plenty of course scouting will be happening, as well as figuring out the best strategy for the team depending on the conditions.

“There is a lot of scouting that goes on in our sport”, Wallman said. “We map the greens, figure out where hole locations are, what the wind speed is and direction and such.  When we go to a new venue there is a ton of up-front work that goes on.  This is our fifth time playing in Puerto Rico though, so we will have a much better idea of how the conditions will be and how the course will play.”

For freshman Marissa DeCola this will be her first spring as a member of the IU women’s golf team. With difficult competition and matches coming up it may seem a bit overwhelming for a freshman, but DeCola said she tries to maintain an even keel on the course.

“You can gain a lot of confidence after playing a good round, because you feel like you’ve played the course well and know the specific areas you can place the ball at,” she said. “After a bad round I don’t lose much confidence because I know I’m just going to have to pick myself back up and go out the next day.”