Sports
OU Women’s Golf Begins Spring Season
By: Sarah Tranelli
Posted on:
The Ohio Women’s Golf team earned a 13th place finish at the Claud Jacobs Invitational in Victoria, Texas, improving 22 strokes from the first round to the last.
Senior captain Meryl Weaver led the way for the Bobcats, and tied for 19th place.
This marks the sixth time in Weaver's career that she has finished in the top twenty or better.
Pleased with her overall play, Weaver looks to build on her progress at next week’s tournament in Arizona.
“The first day, hitting my driver was exceptional actually, a lot better than I had planned,” said Weaver. “I had worked on that a lot at the end of the fall, beginning of winter, because I was a little iffy on it, I wasn’t 100 percent confident. It ended up proving pretty strong.”
The team usually begins its spring schedule in Arizona, but Head Coach Kelly Ovington added Texas as a new tournament this year as a way to boost confidence and better prepare for Arizona’s conditions.
“I wanted us to get out and play with some different competition,” said Ovington. “We played with some teams we haven’t really seen before. Also, I wanted us to get out and make some swings before we get to Arizona. That’s usually our first tournament of the spring, so Texas gave us an opportunity to knock some of the rust off.”
Sophomore Kara Brinkmann knows the key to success next week will be her short game.
“I’m just going to work on my putting and chipping game and polish up my irons and I’ll be ready for Arizona," said Brinkmann.
The team took advantage of the mild winter and Weaver thinks it will give them an edge heading into their competitive season.
“It has been great to see the ball flight every now and then to make sure that you are on track with the practices we have been doing inside,” said Weaver. “It was great to see our short game even because when practicing inside you can be a little unsure of how the putts are rolling and different things like that, so seeing the ball go into the cup and feeling the touch of the greens is always beneficial.”
The Bobcats will tee it up March 9 through 11 at the Rio Verde Collegiate Invitational in Arizona.