After a less-than-spectacular opening day at the Indiana Invitational, the No. 14 women’s golf team picked up two places and redemption during its final round on Sunday, earning a third-place finish amid a competitive field of 15 top Midwest teams.
The Wildcats shot a strong 304 on the final day after mediocre rounds of 317 and 318 on Saturday. NU and No. 24 Kent State both managed to leapfrog No. 11 Ohio State in the final round.
No. 18 Michigan State won the tournament with a score of 922. The Spartans led the field after the first day with rounds of 314 and 313 and managed to stay on top Sunday with the tournament-low round of 295.
The top finisher for the Cats was sophomore Elizabeth Burden, who has ended up on top for NU in four of the last five tournaments. Burden’s 231 on the weekend put her in seventh place. Her best golf came on the final day when she shot a 2-over 74.
Burden said she was frustrated with the two rounds played on Saturday.
“The first day I putted really, really badly,” Burden said.
But she was significantly happier with her individual performance Sunday as well as with the team’s.
“We moved up after the first day, which was definitely encouraging,” Burden said. “It was really windy the first day, and everybody had to get used to the greens – they were a little tricky.”
Freshman Hana Kim said the team improved as the tournament went along.
“We did move up on the last day, and passing up Indiana and Ohio State was good,” Kim said. “But we shouldn’t have been in sixth place to begin with.”
Kim shot an impressive 2-under 72 to finish 10th overall for the weekend. Kim was the second-best finisher for the Cats – her highest placing of the spring season thus far – ending up with a four-round total of 234.
“I struggled all fall trying to find the fire I had when I played individually,” Kim said. “This was all of that coming together.”
Kim played on her high school boy’s team in Brentwood, Calif., and played on three national teams prior to this year. Adjusting to the team atmosphere has been somewhat of a challenge for the rookie.
“I just want to put up the numbers we need, and be there for support,” Kim said. “There’s no competition. I go out there hoping every girl on the team plays better than I do.”
Burden, who appears to have secured her position as the No. 1 golfer on the team, doesn’t sweat where the team finishes, either – as long as it performs at its best.
“However it turns out is fine. Just so the team plays well as a whole,” Burden said.
Also turning in a strong performance for the Cats was junior Emily Gilley, who finished 13th overall.
The Cats play in the Ohio State Spring Buckeye Invitational April 21-22 before the championship season starts with the Big Ten tournament in Minneapolis April 27-29.
