Even though the weather is just starting to feel like spring, the women's golf team has its last chance of the spring season to prepare for the Mid-American Conference Championships this weekend.
The team travels to Urbana, Ill., where it will play in the Illini Spring Classic. Ball State then has a week off before MAC Championships.
Last weekend at the Indiana Invitational, the team played in the foulest weather it's faced all season. The tournament was originally scheduled for 54 holes, but due to weather conditions, only 36 were played.
"We've seen the worst of the conditions this spring, and we're hoping we'll have some good weather," head coach Katherine Mowat said. "The girls are getting fired up for the end of the year and the MAC Championships."
Junior Julie Harder said the team's goal all season has been to finish among the top three or four schools at the MAC Championships. Harder would also like a sub-300 team finish this weekend, something that has yet to happen so far this spring season.
The team came close to that mark last weekend at the William & Mary Invitational. Ball State shot a season-low 318 on the second day after shooting a 322 on the first.
Harder said if the team can get four golfers to score in the 70s, it should be able to reach that goal.
"All the girls are capable of shooting at or around par," she said. "Every single one of these girls on this team can shoot and win tournaments."
Harder herself has proven she can do just that. After rounds of 91, 81 and 91 in the first tournament of the spring season, Harder rebounded and won the Butler Invitational the next weekend.
"It was an eye-opener for us," Harder said. "We got a look at what we need to do the rest of the season.
"From the minute I stepped out of the van [at Butler], I wanted to beat everyone," she said. "What helped me win it was staying mentally tough."
Mowat said that Harder has become a team leader throughout the spring season and that she knows what she needs to do to improve even more.
"Julie's been playing well," she said. "She's confident in her game right now, and she's expecting more from herself.
Harder said she's been focusing on hitting more greens from regulation.
"I need to be able to set myself up for birdies."
Also competing this weekend for the Cardinals will be juniors Carmen Bodine, Katie Sundberg and sophomores Chelsie Flannery and Holly Jones. Jones will be participating in her first competition this spring.
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