The IU women’s golf team needed to have one of its best tournaments of the year in order to make the postseason, but the Hoosiers couldn’t get it done.
IU finished 13th with a team score of 946(+82) Sunday at the Big Ten Women’s Golf Championship at TPC River’s Bend in Cincinnati. IU finished 80 strokes behind tournament-champion Northwestern and finished ahead of only Rutgers.
IU was in last place after the first round with a score of 318 (+30) but showed improvement after moving up to 12th place with a 308 (+20) in the second round. The Hoosiers couldn’t keep the pace in the final round and shot 320 (+32) to finish 13th.
Sophomore Erin Harper tied for 25th in the individual standings with a three-round score of 228 (+12). Harper shot her best score in the second round with a 3-over-par 75.
Coming off two consecutive top-5 finishes, Harper said she wanted to finish higher but also said she was able to find positives in her performance this weekend.
“My putting the first two days was really good, and my ball-striking was better the last day, so those are the bright sides I’m taking away from this tournament,” Harper said.
Junior Alix Kong finished tied for 55th with a score of 238 (+22), highlighted by a 75 (+3) in the second round. Senior Ana Sanjuan shot a 242 (+26) to finish tied for 65th individually. Sanjuan shot her best score in the final round with a 79 (+7).
Senior Theresa-Ann Jedra finished tied for 74th with a 249 (+33), freshman Carolina Garrett shot a 250 (+34) to finish 76th, and freshman Elisa Pierre tied for 77th with a 251 (+35).
IU Coach Clint Wallman said the finish was below the expectations that the Hoosiers had heading into the tournament and IU didn’t execute well enough to finish where it needed to.
The Big Ten tournament was IU’s fourth tournament in the last four weeks of the season, and Harper said the team had to deal with some fatigue and soreness in the final stretch. However, Harper said she thought the team managed the challenge of the busy end to the season well.
With the Big Ten tournament marking the end of the season for IU, Wallman said he was focused on finding the positives in this tournament and looking forward to next season.
“A lot of our younger players played in their first Big Ten Championship so they know what it’s like,” Wallman said. “They know the atmosphere. They know the whole thing, so next year they wont be so wide-eyed when they get here. It will be a lot more business as usual.”
Harper said missing the NCAA tournament after making regionals last season was a disappointment considering the expectations the Hoosiers had coming into the season.
“Overall it wasn’t one of our best seasons, but it definitely was a fun one,” Harper said. “I’m just looking forward to next year — if we can come back and play how we did my freshman year and make it back to regionals — so I’m excited for that.”
