The Women’s Golf team started its spring season with a third-place finish out of 14 teams at the Augustana Invitational in Sioux Falls, S.D. With a start like that, the team has high hopes for the rest of the season.

The team finished with a score of 650, behind Augustana at 632 and Minnesota State, Mankato at 647. Top finishers for Gustavus were Senior Katie Schenfeld and Junior Ann Jackson, who tied for fifth place with scores of 158.

Team members were happy with the performance, but they want to do even better in the future. “Some players, like [Jackson], stepped up, but the team has a lot of work to do,” Schenfeld said.

“The tournament showed us what we need to work on. … We have high standards and work hard to reach those standards,” Junior Taylor Drenttel said.

Other Gustavus golfers finished as follows: Sophomore Kayleigh Dittes in 19th place, Drenttel in 28th place and Junior Rikka Holiday in 37th place.
This year, the Women’s Golf team has relatively few members, with just seven golfers. Such a small team can be a challenge at times, according to team members.

“We are challenged by having only seven women on the team. We have had bigger numbers in the past, but several women have stepped up,” Schenfeld said.

The golf team has a somewhat unusual season. Due to weather, the season is split between fall and spring. Having the split season allows for improvement during the winter.

“It’s nice to be able to improve and redeem yourself in the spring if you don’t do so well in the fall,” Schenfeld said.

“We worked hard in the winter and over Spring Break. … A lot of people have stepped up their game since the fall part of the season,” Drenttel said.

The Gustie golfers already experienced success in the fall: they qualified for Nationals, which will take place on May 10-13, 2011 in Florida.
“We’re all really excited for Nationals in Florida,” Drenttel said.

The team also won the MIAC Conference meet last fall. “We won Conference in the fall by a significant margin, so that was exciting,” Schenfeld said.

Team members attribute some of their success the golf coaches, Head Coach Scott Moe and Assistant Coach Randall Stuckey. “We would not have had all this success without our amazing coaches. They are so supportive, and we love them,” Drenttel said.

This weekend will bring another meet for the Gustie women. They will participate in the St. Thomas Invitational in Becker, Minn. on Saturday and Sunday, April 16 and 17.