The Ball State women's golf team will head to Indian Springs, Ohio, to compete in the Mid-American Conference Championships for only the fourth time ever. The 54-hole tournament takes place today through Sunday at the Walden Ponds Golf Club.
Coach Shelley Sanders said that this is by far the most important tournament of the year.
"It is the only time we see all the conference teams in the same field," she said.
Ball State will look to continue its improvement at the MAC Championships this year. In 2002, the Cardinals finished eighth out of as many teams and shot a three-round total of 1,057. A dramatic improvement of 85 strokes last year led the Cards' to a seventh-place finish out of nine teams.
"I fully expect us to improve upon last year's performance," Sanders said. "I don't expect us to improve by 85 shots, but I think we can improve."
The favorite to win the tournament is five-time defending champion Kent State. The Golden Flashes have won the MAC Championships every year since its inception in 1999.
"They are by far the team to beat," Sanders said. "They are one of the top 15 teams in the country. And it just happens that they are in our conference."
Walden Ponds is not an exceptionally long course, measuring 5,812 yards. The course where BSU practices, The Players Club, measures more than 6,100 yards.
"It is a great golf course," Sanders said. "It rewards good shots and penalizes bad shots. (To be successful) you need to hit the fairways and greens."
The biggest concern for the teams this weekend will be the weather.
"It has rained a lot this week," Sanders said. "It is expected to rain over the next three days, so the conditions aren't going to improve."
Sanders said, though, that she would like to see it rain. She said the poor conditions level the playing field.
Katie Sundberg was the top Cardinal golfer in last year's event. Sundberg's 239 total placed her 19th overall. A stroke back of Sundberg was Ali Meyer who finished tied for 20th.
Meyer's second round 75 at the MACs was the best single round of the tournament by a Ball State golfer. Also competing last year was Sara Padgett (246), Carmen Bodine (251) and Lisa Robertson (262).
The starting five competing this week for the Cardinals, in order, are: Bodine, Sundberg, Chelsie Flannery, Robertson and Meyer.
"I would really like for one of our players to make the All-MAC team," Sanders said. "One of our goals is to finish in the top four. We need four good scores each round."
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