Winter came early for Northwestern’s women’s golf team on Sunday as it battled fierce winds and brief showers during the final round of the Mercedes-Benz Collegiate Championship in Knoxville, Tenn. The Wildcats used the poor weather to their advantage in the final fall tournament on their schedule, capturing a sixth-place finish in the 14-team event.
While other teams struggled in the adverse conditions, the Cats gained ground, though they still finished 22 shots behind Purdue, the tournament winner.
“In bad weather you really need to rely on your technique, and it involves huge trust,” senior Emily Gilley said. “I think we did better than the other teams on Sunday because we are a well-disciplined and technical team — this is definitely one of our strengths.”
When the wind was calm last Friday for the first round, the Cats started off slowly, finishing in eighth place with a team score of 304, 11 shots behind first-round leader Duke.
Individually, freshman Ina Kim recorded the best round of the day for NU with a 74 on the 5,985-yard, par-72 course. Kim’s consistent play — she carded a 37 on each nine — left her in 12th place individually after day one.
“No one played as well as they could have,” junior Elizabeth Burden said. “We did not play up to our potential this weekend.”
On Saturday, Ina Kim’s older sister, Hana, stepped up her play for NU as she shot the team’s lowest round of the tournament, a 71. Hana Kim hit 16 greens, and struck the ball very well.
“I’m a very strong second-round golfer,” Kim said. “I do not know if it is mental or preparation, but I always seem to have a good second round.”
Even with the outstanding individual efforts of Hana Kim, the Cats failed to gain ground on their competition. A team score of 303 left NU stuck in eighth and searching for answers.
On Sunday, Mother Nature provided some of these answers as the horrible weather made the leaderboard resemble a game of musical chairs.
Only Kari Damron of Purdue, the overall individual winner, shot even par.
Furthermore, Purdue’s Sunday team score of 305, eight shots higher than its first-round score, was the low mark of the day. The strong finish propelled the Boilermakers from fourth to first on the final day.
“All the scores were really high on Sunday because the wind made it very difficult,” Burden said. “The wind would blow leaves in your line when you were putting, and it was very hard to concentrate.”
As Purdue made a charge to the top on the final day, NU made its own surge in the standings from eighth to sixth with a respectable tally of 317. The score allowed the Cats to surpass Louisiana State as well as Florida. The Cats finished with a tournament score of 924.
For the third straight day, a different golfer stepped up for NU.
On Sunday, it was Gilley who led the Cats’ resurgence. The weather was no problem for Gilley, who fired a final round 76 with three critical birdies.
“It was a rough day out there, and I was not hitting the ball very well,” Gilley said. “I was just trying to stay in there, and I did a good job scrambling for par.”
The Cats’ sixth-place finish appears more impressive considering the team did not play as well as they liked. Only tournament champion Purdue, host team Tennessee, and three of the top five teams in the nation placed ahead of the Cats.
NU had three players finish in the top 20 as Hana Kim tied for 14th and Gilley and Ina Kim tied for 18th.
“This weekend was a very strong field of teams, and we did not play our best,” sophomore Lauren Grzebien said.
“This gives us confidence heading into the offseason because we played with the top teams, and we know each one of us can do a little bit better.”
