The IU women’s golf team didn’t get off to the hot start it wanted to, but the Hoosiers are focusing on what’s ahead of them as they enter the busiest part of their schedule.
IU will begin a stretch of four tournaments in four weeks when it starts play at the Hawkeye ‘El Tigre’ Invitational on Sunday in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. IU is one of five Big Ten teams, along with Nebraska, Rutgers, Wisconsin and tournament host Iowa, in the field.
With this being the first year of the Hawkeye Invitational, IU Coach Clint Wallman said the team won’t be familiar with the course. However, it shouldn’t be a disadvantage for the Hoosiers because all of the teams will be going in without knowing what to expect.
“It's going to be a golf course that the coaches are really going to have to do some scouting and figuring out once we are there and really work with the players through the process to make sure we have a good idea how to attack every hole and every pin location,” Wallman said.
After IU finished in the bottom three in each of its first two tournaments of the spring season, Wallman said the team is focused on the tournaments in the coming month and putting the rough start behind them.
That should be made easier with the return of junior Alix Kong, who wasn’t selected to the team in the first two tournaments due to tendinitis in her shoulder. Kong participated as an individual at the Clover Cup last month and shot a 3-under-par 69 in the second round to tie the Hoosiers’ best single-round score of the season.
Sophomore Erin Harper is also starting to find her groove on the course after missing significant time due to illness during the fall season. Harper closed out the Clover Cup strong by shooting a 74(+2) in each of the final two rounds. She said she was finally able to attack the golf course the way she wanted to.
Senior Ana Sanjuan will be looking to get her strong season back on track after she struggled at the Clover Cup. Like Kong, Sanjuan also has been struggling with shoulder tendinitis so she spent much of the time between tournaments resting and working on her short game.
Sanjuan said her rest has helped her relax her focus on the expectations she has put on herself this season.
“Not having expectations for me is a positive thing because I'm just going to go not think about what results I'm expecting,” Sanjuan said. “I'm just going to do my best. “
With four tournaments in the next four weeks, IU will look to pick up some momentum with a strong performance at the Hawkeye Invitational and hope to have that carry into the weeks ahead.
This will be the first tournament of the spring season where the Hoosiers will have the full team available for selection, and Sanjuan said the team needs to be motivated and ready to go in order to take a step up in the tournament standings.
The tournament will be played over three days, with one round being played each day starting Sunday and ending Tuesday.
