By Franklin KaoThe Daily Northwestern
Chemistry.
Not only does it represent one of the most prestigious graduate school programs at Northwestern (ranked 9th by U.S. News & World Report), but it is also the epitome of NU’s women’s golf team (ranked 32nd by Golfweek/Sagarin).
Senior Alice Kim said that her favorite parts of the year have been the parts spent with her fellow Wildcats golfers.
“Every moment with the team is just amazing,” Kim said. “When there’s one of us you’re sure to find another … The entire year has been one big fun moment.”
The closely knit team has also transfered its chemistry onto the golf course.
Fifth-year senior Lili Alvarez, said the team has not only been playing well lately, but has been teeing up with confidence as well.
“We just came out of our first win during the spring in the Red Rock,” Alvarez said. “It was a tight win … (We) had the lowest team score of all year. Everyone’s performing really well. Our No. 1 can play five and our No. 5 can play one.”
The Red Rock Invitational was one of two first place victories that NU landed this season. The other came in October at the Lady Paladin Invitational in Greenville, S.C.
The biggest blow to the Cats this season was at the Mercedes-Benz Collegiate Championships, when they finished 14th out of 15 teams.
The Cats have bounced back and have finished seventh, first and second in their last three tournaments, respectively. The second place finish came at the Mountain View Collegiate in late March, their most recent tournament.
On April 9th, the Cats will test their talents at the Indiana Invitational, which will be played at the Crooked Stick Golf Club in Carmel, Ind. The club is famous for its highly esteemed events, which includes this year’s U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship.
“Everybody is looking forward to play on that golf course,” coach Chris Regenberg said. “It’s an exceptional golf course. It’ll be a challenging tournament, but it’ll also be a good thermometer of where our games are at.”
Though the competition in Indiana is the next challenge ahead, one of the Cats’ main targets for the season is to make the NCAA tournament. Team chemistry will definitely help them if they are to reach the match they fell short of last year.
“This team has a unified focus, we have some hard workers on the team,” Regenberg said. “The elements are there for what we want to achieve this year.”
Reach Franklin Kao at [email protected]
