The Idaho women’s golf team prepares for the first tournament of the season with most of its players returning from last year. The veteran squad plays in the Ptarmigan Ram Fall Classic Invitational on Monday and Tuesday at Fort Collins, Colo.
The Vandals head into the tournament with confidence since each of the players has competed in the tournament multiple times throughout their collegiate careers.
“Right now we’re No. 1 in the WAC and that’s really encouraging,” senior Rachel Choi said. “In Colorado, everyone that’s traveling has played the course before. We don’t have any newcomers, which is nice, so we all know the course. I think if we play to our best potential we have a really good chance to win it.”
Idaho coach Lisa Johnson said the course is very playable which is often a rarity for a collegiate women’s golf course. She said the men’s golf courses are set up so that many of the athletes can hit under par but women’s courses are set up such that the individual champion might be on par or even over par.
The Ptarmigan Country Club offers a unique alternative for golfers early in the season.
“It’s really set up to where you can go well under par if you have a very good round,” Johnson said.
Although the Vandals only lost one senior from the 2012-13 season, Choi is the only returning senior on the team this season. The other seven athletes are all sophomores and juniors.
Choi was also the highest Vandal finisher in the 2013 WAC Championship Tournament in May. She finished fourth overall and lead Idaho to a fifth place finish.
Joining Choi in Colorado will be juniors Leilanie Kim and Kaitlyn Oster, and sophomores Cassie McKinley and Kristin Strankman. The five Vandals qualified through four competitive team-qualifying rounds at the University of Idaho and Palouse Ridge in Pullman.
“In order to qualify for the first tournament this year, they had to average 75 or better which is lower than I’ve seen ever,” Johnson said. “That is very exciting.”
Choi was also impressed with the team’s depth.
“I’ve never seen this team so competitive,” she said. “We have eight players and five of us travel. The (qualifying) scores were really really close and a lot of us shot under par. People are competing for the (travel) spots and that’s really good for the team.”
Expectations are high for the Idaho women’s golf team, but the long season has only just begun. Since golf is a year-round sport, the season doesn’t conclude until the WAC Championship Tournament in April. But until then, the Vandals will take it one tournament and one shot at a time.
Stephan Wiebe
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