The Ball State University women's golf team got off to a rough start this Spring Break.
Coming off of a 33rd place finish at the Kiawah Island Intercollegiate, the Cardinals looked to post better scores and have a good placing at the Rio Verde Invitational in Rio Verde, Ariz. The Cardinals struggled in conditions that coach Katherine Mowat described as "perfect" and finished 14th out of 20 teams.
The Cardinals finished the three-day tournament with a team score of 937 - 54 strokes behind the 883 posted by winner Kansas University.
Mowat said she did not know what could have caused the poor performance.
"I wish I knew," Mowat said. "We had confidence in our preparations and our overall readiness to compete. It just didn't come together for us."
It looked like the Cardinals would have a sour Spring Break, but they were able to turn things around when they visited Citrus Springs, Fla., for the Eastern Kentucky El Diablo Spring Invitational.
Ball State put its 14th place finish behind them and finished first in a field of 15 teams. Four of the five golfers for the Cardinals finished in the top 12 individually.
Junior Kirsty O'Connor led the way with a final score of 223, including one round of a 69 on the second day. That 69 tied for the second-lowest score posted in the tournament, just one stroke behind the individual overall leader P. Phol-uayporn from Florida Atlantic University.
The other top 12 performers were sophomore Rachael Pruett (seventh, 228), sophomore Brittany Kelly (10th, 231) and freshman Kristtini Cain (12th, 232). Senior Sarah Windlan finished in 44th with a 247.
Mowat said she expected such scores, despite the Cardinals playing the tournaments with a single day for practice in between.
"The scores we posted were definitely indicative of the talent on the team and our capability," she said. "When you are struggling and not playing well, it's easy to get frustrated and question what's going on. At some point you're just going to play the way you are capable of playing."
With the sudden turnaround and success that the Cardinals have experienced, there also comes the lesson of taking things in stride. The victory achieved Friday does not erase the poor finishes from earlier in the season, Mowat said.
"I think the team is realizing where we are and what we want to do, and winning a tournament doesn't hide the fact that we have been beat by a lot of teams this spring," Mowat said. "We need to keep working hard and playing the way we are capable of or we could continue to get beat."
The Cardinals' next tournament is from March 29-30 at Carbondale, Ill.
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