The Pointer UW-Stevens Point Student Newspaper
As their spring season concludes, the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point women’s golf team gave themselves a boost of momentum going into the summer.
Four of the five UWSP golfers shot below a 100 round at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Spring Fling Invite, the best all year for the squad.
This result was a strong finish to a somewhat disappointing season for the Pointers.
“We underachieved a bit, and not because we weren’t trying. Golf is just an extremely hard game and some things just didn’t go as planned this year,” said Head Coach Rory Suomi.
Although Suomi believes they underachieved, the Pointers improved from their last place finish in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference a year ago, to a sixth place finish this year.
He believes next year could be the one where the team takes a jump.
“It’s good we finished strong this year, and with the group I have coming back along with new additions, I think we will have a chance to be pretty good in the fall,” Suomi said.
With the fall being the main season for the team, the spring season is used for fine tuning and adjustments. One area the whole team felt needed to be improved is also the most important area of the course, near the green.
“We all stressed to work on our short game, because I could hit a great drive and lose strokes by the hole cause I can’t chip or putt, but I have gained more strokes when I can chip or putt rather than hit it far,” sophomore Jalyn Labine said.
Being a golfer is a lonely feeling most times, but the Pointer women do all they can to help each other in the heat of competition.
“We try the best we can to keep each other relaxed, whether it is doing a weird dance when we see each other on the course or whatever, it’s just better for us all to try to get rid of the nerves and play relaxed,” freshman Jackie Halverson said.
As a golf coach, it is even more of a unique situation than a player, and Suomi’s golfers believe he does a great job of getting them prepared.
Photo by Jack McLaughlin.
“He can’t be with us the whole time obviously, so he does a great job keeping things loose and making sure we have our mind right, and then it is up to us to go play,” Labine said.
As the team will go into the offseason, Suomi hopes some of his methods will get carried out through the summer so that, come fall, the Pointers are ready to roll.
“I stress more course management than anything, because you can hit fifteen perfect drives in a row, but on a course you hit one drive and you’re on to the next club,” Suomi said. “I think the girls started to realize if you play a course correctly you maximize your ability to score.”
The Pointers only had six golfers come out last fall, a number well short of what was anticipated. Suomi expects that number to rise and drive the other golfers to become better.
“Hopefully we get all the girls I expect are coming because it creates competition and pushes the girls to be better,” Suomi said. “I think a lot of our girls did what they needed to do this year and didn’t really have that sense of competition to get better.”
All of the golfers will go their separate ways this summer, but have pinpointed some areas they look to improve to come back even better in the fall.
“I’m going to compete in some tournaments this summer and find the areas I need to continue to improve on in addition to some of the areas I already know need improvement,” Halverson said.
Competing in tournaments is encouraged immensely by Suomi, who believes it is the greatest opportunity for improvement.
“You can go play with your Mom and Dad and have fun and that is great, but competing against others and having to hit a four foot putt can’t be duplicated any other way,” Suomi said.
Charles Klumb
Reporter
cklum166@uwsp.edu
