Both the men's and women's golf teams return to the links this weekend hoping to improve on disappointing performances a week ago.
The men's team will compete at the Wolverine Invitational this weekend against several Big Ten teams including host Michigan, Indiana and Iowa, which finished second at its own invitational last weekend. The Cardinals are paired in the third group with Wisconsin and North Carolina-Wilmington.
"The strength of the field is going to be very good from top to bottom," men's coach Mike Fleck said. "With a stronger field, if we can find some success, we can build more confidence as we go."
The Cardinals were disappointed in their fifth-place finish last weekend at the Hawkeye Intercollegiate hosted by Iowa.
"Obviously, it was kind of disappointing at Iowa," Fleck said. "We weren't as sharp as we should've been."
Two other Mid-American Conference schools will compete in Michigan, Eastern Michigan and Miami. Competing against these schools should give Ball State University an early opportunity to see where it stands in the conference, Fleck said.
"We just want to play well," he said. "We want to take care of business against them and play team golf."
Senior Brandon Boomsa replaces freshman Ben Lakoff in the lineup after earning a spot during qualifying rounds this week. He joins senior Patrick Wilkes-Krier and juniors C.D. Hockersmith, Andy Skillman and Wayne Denger.
The women's team hopes to rebound after dropping from second after the first day to fourth in the final standings last weekend.
Despite three members finishing in the top 10 individually, the women's team finished the Cardinal Classic in fourth place.
Kallie Harrison finished in second overall last weekend and was joined by Katie Sundberg (sixth) and Julie Harder (ninth).
Ball State travels to Myrtle Beach, S.C. for the Unlimited Potential/Bay Tree Classic. College of Charleston plays host to the tournament.
"Any one of those three definitely have a shot at winning the tournament," women's golf coach Katherine Mowat said. "If all three play really well, we can potentially win this tournament."
Holly Jones and Amber Uphaus will be the number four and five players after both competed last weekend. Uphaus tied for 45th and Jones tied for 57th.
"We just need to be able to count on those scores from the four and five player," Mowat said. "If the high score can be around 80 or so, we should be OK."
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