The Online Reflector

The University of Indianapolis women’s golf team finished its 2011 fall season after breaking low-scoring records and winning two of five tournaments. The season ended  Oct. 23 in Allendale, Mich., with a fourth place finish in the 15-team Laker Fall Classic. The Greyhounds’ ended the fall portion with a .783 winning percentage.

Low scorers were sophomores Amy Thompson, who came in fifth place, and Jenny Konop, who placed sixth.

“This season was very productive. The team set three different records, two team records and an individual record. It showed us how hard we had to work to compete nationally,” said Head Coach Brent Nicoson. “We are close, but we need to work harder.”

According to Nicoson, some factors of the team’s success were the freshmen, who were a big part of the team, the great senior leadership and a lot of the players tying their career low-scoring records. Nicoson said he knew the team had talent, but he did not expect them to break records so quickly. In September at The Screaming Eagle Classic, the team tied the existing low-scoring record of  300.

Senior Darin Pinnick broke her own low-scoring record, making her the second-lowest scoring golfer in UIndy history.

The team then went on to break the school record of 300,  setting a new record of 296 at the Midwest Shoot-Out, which also took place in late September.

“To get a taste of winning so quickly has raised team expectations,” Nicoson said.  “Two team wins are hard to accomplish in the fall season.”

According to Thompson, a favorite moment of the season for the team was breaking the school record. Another favorite moment was traveling to Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. to compete. Team members stayed at the Professional Golfer’s Association National Golf Resort, practiced anytime of the day and saw teams from all over the country that they do not normally get to face.

“Off the course, as a first time [women’s] coach, it was great to get to know the kids. This is really a great group of girls,”Nicoson said. “On the course, [my favorite moment] of course, was setting the records.”

According to Nicoson, this winter the team will work on a number of little things.

They will identify areas of weakness, try to improve scores, improve the short game and try to maintain or exceed the performances from the fall, Konop said. In addition, Thompson said the team members will need to work on avoiding unnecessary strokes.

“We want to go from being good golfers to great golfers,” Konop said.

After improving their  skills this winter, the team can show them off in the spring. Pinnick and Thompson will enter the spring season leading the team with the highest strokes-per-round percentages.

According to Konop, they are hoping to have a competitive schedule for the NCAA Championship season.

“I expect the team to be competitors at every tournament, and we will compete for the conference again in the spring,” Nicoson said. “There’s no reason why we can’t compete for the national championship, too.”