Starting in 2008, the Ball State University women's golf team will have more conference competition, but coach Katherine Mowat said she isn't worried about losing recruits.
Akron University announced last week it will add a women's golf program starting in the 2008-09 season. The Zips are the ninth Mid-American Conference school to establish a women's golf team.
"It's definitely a competition factor and they are just a few hours away, so we'll be competing for some of the same recruits," Mowat said. "There are so many good players in Indiana I have hardly had to recruit in Ohio."
Two of Ball State's five returning players are from Indiana. In addition, two of the three high school players who signed letters of intention with Ball State during the 2006-07 season were from Indiana.
Rachael Pruett, Linton, Ind., was named to the 2006 All-State team during her senior season and Brittany Kelly, Fishers, Ind., won the 2006 Indiana PGA Women's Open Champion.
"There are so many good players and not one school can get all of them," Mowat said. "There are so many good [Midwest] programs and becoming a top team and recruiting players to come in to Ball State is what we're staying focused on."
Hunter Yuracheck, Akron senior associate athletics director, said the women's golf program will primarily recruit in northeast Ohio and the area the team's coach is from. Currently the Zips have received 25 applications for the head coach position and will announce their coach July 1, he said.
Yuracheck said the women's golf recruiting will be similar to the men's golf team, who had seven of nine players from Ohio in the 2006-07 season. He said Akron is concerned with competing against Kent State University.
Kent State is about 10 miles from Akron. In April, the Golden Flashes won their ninth consecutive MAC women's golf championship, winning by 49 strokes.
"We will go head-to-head with them for recruits," Yuracheck said. "Our fans always compare how we do with Kent State, and adding a women's golf program is another step in competing."
Beginning in the 2008-09 season, there will be nine Division I women's golf teams in Ohio and six in Indiana.
Mowat said she wasn't surprised when she heard the announcement because the interest in women's golf at the collegiate level is continuing to grow.
In September 2006, Indiana State University played its first season. This fall, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga will play its inaugural season.
"Women's programs are popping up all over the place," Mowat said. "There is a demand for it and the volume of female golfers has increased and the talent has risen."
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