The University of Idaho women’s golf team had an emotional ending to its season as three seniors said goodbye to their successful collegiate careers at the Western Athletic Conference Championships.

“We played well,” said Idaho coach Lisa Johnson. “We improved with each round, and I feel that we had an even better year this season.”
The Vandal women won the WAC tournament last year and were looking to defend the title again this spring. They finished the tournament in fifth place while competing at the Sunny Side Golf Course in Fresno, Calif.

Kelly Nakashima was one of three seniors on the team playing their last round of collegiate golf. She shot her first round at three over par and finished her final round at one over par.
“I didn’t give up. There were some stressful rounds,” she said. “I was not going to let myself end on a bad tournament, and I believe the whole team did the same.”

Nakashima said the course was different than what the team is used to.
“The course was very tree-lined with sand bunkers everywhere,” she said. “The greens were also much smaller compared to the courses that we usually play on.”

Johnson said the course was a fair test for all the schools competing and most schools played exactly as they had expected.
“We knew we had to play two strong rounds and one great round,” Johnson said. “Instead we played three good rounds, but that is OK. San Jose State was ranked 37th coming into the WAC Championships, but they didn’t have a very strong performance.”

The final round of the tournament was the best for the Vandal women. They shot nine strokes less than their first round.
Fresno State won the championship, shooting a total of 905. The Vandal women shot 923.

“Our final round was the best we played as a team,” Johnson said. “Dani Madden and Jenna Huff played great in the final round.”
To add to the excitement of a great season, Nakashima and sophomore Amanda Jacobs received all conference honors. Nakashima was named to the All-WAC first-team for her success this year, while Jacobs was named second-team.

“I was very satisfied with the way the season ended as a whole,” Nakashima said. “I was really surprised to be named first-team because there were some tournaments that I felt I didn’t play that well. I was happy for Amanda as well.”
Johnson said it was great to have two players with honors.

This summer, the Vandal women will be playing a handful of tournaments to prepare for the fall season. Johnson expects the women to have a successful season as they train and get stronger over the summer months.

“Our first tournament is two weeks after school starts, but we cannot start practicing until the first day of school,” Johnson said.
The returning members of the golf team have an opportunity to set the tone for the new players coming in, Johnson said.

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