Indiana women’s golf scored a season-best 869, 5-over par competing in the Chevron Collegiate hosted by the University of Houston on Feb. 26-27. However, facing a highly competitive field where all 16 teams ranked in the top-75 of the Scoreboard Rankings, the Hoosiers placed 15th in the invitational.
“There were a lot of good things, a lot of positivity that we can build on,” head coach Brian May said Friday. “But at the end of the day, we had a stronger field and the golf course lended a lot of birdies, and we just weren’t in the right mindset to make enough of those to put ourselves in contention.”
The Hoosiers struggled in the first round, firing a 292, 4-over par that slotted them in last place. Redshirt junior Caroline Smith was the bright spot of the round, posting a 69, 3-under par, including four birdies and an eagle. The round was tied for 16th among individuals.
Indiana showed a slight improvement in the second round, shooting a 291, 3-over par. It surpassed Furman University for 15th place in the standings following the round. Redshirt sophomore Maddie May was the low scorer in the second round with a 71, 1-under par.
The Hoosiers’ upwards scoring trajectory continued in the final round with a 286, 2-under par, but it wasn’t enough to move higher in the standings. May scored a second consecutive 71, 1-under alongside senior Dominika Burdova and sophomore Chloe Johnson.
May finished as the Hoosiers’ lowest scorer for the tournament with a 214, 2-under par — besting her career high of 222, 6-over par at The Ally Invitational on Oct. 23-25. She scored a team-high 13 birdies across the three rounds, with six of them coming in her final round. She tied for 34th in the field.
“Really proud of Maddie and how she handled the week,” May said. “She has a ton of tools and she’s been working hard on the mental approach to really being competitive. She was super consistent.”
Smith and Burdova tied for 48th, each scoring 219, 3-over par. Johnson scored a 221, 5-over par to tie for 59th. Freshman Nicole Kolbas rounded out Indiana’s lineup with a 229, 13-over par, in her third appearance.
Indiana ranked 14th in the field with 166 pars and 12th with 47 birdies. It was also one of 11 teams to card an eagle in the tournament. However, the high scores on the card limited the Hoosiers from placing higher.
“I think the overall scoring difficulty for us this week was the big numbers that we had to account for,” May said. “We had too many doubles and triples counted in there, and it kind of overlooked some of the good things that we did because we were having to play catch up so many times from bad holes.”
Par 4s were Indiana’s strong spot, as it ranked 10th in the field with a 4.09 scoring average as a team. The Hoosiers ranked 15th at both Par 3s with a 3.20 scoring average and Par 5s with a 4.95 clip.
Indiana was one of three Big Ten teams to compete in the Chevron Collegiate. Maryland placed second, scoring an 835, 29-under par and Illinois finished ninth with an 853, 11-under par.
Next on the Hoosiers’ slate is the Florida State Match-Up. Indiana will travel to Tallahassee, Florida, to play in the event from March 15-17 at Seminole Legacy Golf Course.
Follow reporter Will Foley (@foles24) for updates throughout the Indiana women’s golf season.
