The UTD women’s golf team opened the spring season with a second place finish at the Pinecrest Intercollegiate, a two-day event hosted by LeTorneau University.
UTD finished at the event, held March 5, with a 36-hole total of 708, 16 shots behind the tournament champion. The event began with a 360 on Monday and increased by 348 on Tuesday over the final 18 holes.
Marissa Langer, a junior on the women’s golf team, has been golfing since she was a sophomore in high school and is now in her fifth year of playing competitive golf.
“We really overcame the challenges we were faced with,” she said. “With our overall performance, we did a great job … and I think it was a great outcome for our first tournament.”
Langer said the team was unaccustomed to the weather they faced at the tournament. She added that they are usually only let out to play in 40-degree weather, whereas during the tournament they were faced with 30-degree weather, which led them to shooting scores less than they had hoped to shoot.
Lindy Patterson, a sophomore, also said the weather made for a difficult tournament.
“It was some of the worst conditions that I’ve ever played in at a golf tournament, so expectations weren’t high,” Patterson said.
Patterson said her scores of 88-84 aren’t scores she would necessarily be happy with, but considering the wind, the cold and how much it had rained, she felt that she performed well.
“Before (the tournament) we were struggling with a lot of weather, so we really didn’t get out to practice as much as we would hope,” Langer said. “The tournament just affirmed that we still have a bunch of stuff to practice to do better at the next tournament.”
Since the Pinecrest tournament, the team has taken home two first-place wins at the Hal Sutton Invitational, with a 36-hole total of 670, and the Texas Cup. The latter, hosted by the Comets, was shortened due to lightning. The team shot an 18-hole total of 324 in the opening round, winning after the second round was suspended.
“Since the (Pinecrest) tournament, the team has seen that we can place well and really be a contender coming into the next few tournaments,” Patterson said. “There is a serious dynamic in practice going into the tournaments knowing that we need to work hard so that we can do well.”
She said the team is adding more competitive drills and reps into its practices to ensure they do well and win in their upcoming tournaments. The team’s next game will be its American Southwest Conference championships on April 12-14.
“We definitely want to win (the) conference and get those rings,” Patterson said. “I really want UTD to be the best golf program it can be.”