The University of Indianapolis women’s golf team is preparing for the upcoming season with their first chance to get on the course at a tournament in California, according to UIndy Men’s and Women’s Golf Head Coach Brent Nicoson. The team is looking toward building on what they accomplished last year, Nicoson said.
“We are excited to get going…,” Nicoson said. “We have been practicing indoors. It’s just time to get out and compete, we are excited to get back out and compete again.”
According to Nicoson, the tournament in California is going to be an opportunity for winning tournaments this spring. The spring season will help the team improve from where they were in the fall, Nicoson said.
“I thought the fall went average; we weren’t our best,” Nicoson said. “But we’re still ranked [in the] top 10 in the country so that’s exciting. We need to be in position to win more tournaments this spring, that’s why we’re excited to get to California.”
Senior golf player Catharina Graf said the team is focusing on their short-game to improve for the season. According to Graf, playing as much as possible is what will help the team make strides forward.
“We’re doing a lot of short-game focused practices right now to really get sharp around the greens and in the greens,” Graf said. “We’re trying to get out and play as much as possible, such as playing on score.”
According to Graf, the team needs to focus on minimizing the stakes when playing in order to be in a better position for the season.
“[We’re improving] consistency and avoiding bigger numbers,” Graf said. “[We’re focused on] minimizing the stakes and that will put us in a better position to win tournaments.”
Nicoson said the athletes are focusing on being more connected as a team this season. According to Nicoson, the team is strong, but focusing on the small things will help them succeed.
“Last year, I felt like we got a little disconnected as we moved into [the] post season and we cannot do that this year,” Nicoson said. “We have to be very connected and very strong [together]… There was not anything wrong last year, but we need to be stronger in that area.”
Nicoson said that one of the reasons why the team is strong is the help they receive from the supporting staff with training. According to Nicoson, they help to consistently better the team throughout the seasons.
“Part of our success comes from our support staff,” Nicoson said. “Our strength [and] conditioning coaches, our athletic trainers, our academic advisors, I want to thank all of them for helping our team to be as strong as they can be, it’s not just us [the coaching staff.]”
Graf said that even though this is her last season at UIndy, she is looking forward to her future in golf.
“It is my last year with [UIndy] so obviously I am sad to be leaving, but at the same time there is going to be something new and I am excited for what is to come,” Graf said.
According to Nicoson, the team is continuing its strong history due to the athletes consistently picking up from the previous season. Nicoson said the team sees the value in being together and that helps them see the value in winning.
“They are seeing the value [of] togetherness…working through our weaknesses and being intentional about what we are doing every day, not just going through the motions,” Nicoson said. “This group does not want to lose and that is what I love and that is a continuation of all the groups before us. [That] is the biggest strong point about this group, none of them want to lose, including the coaching staff… I think that will help us match each other through the rest of the year.”
