April 20, 2015
Brandon Applehans
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In the team’s second year, women’s golf has shown signs of greatness as well as weakness.
UCCS opened the spring season March 16-17 in Mesa, Ariz., competing in the Fort Hays State University Invitational. Freshman Alex Darwin led the way, shooting a 167 for the tournament.
Just two strokes behind was sophomore teammate Forre Zook, as the team improved on their first round score by nine strokes.
Zook said that the first showing for the Mountain Lions did not live up to par.
“[It] was a little disappointing,” she said. “Our whole team struggled a bit, which was probably a
combination of it being the first tournament of the season and poor practice conditions.”
“The spring is always a little more tough because the weather in Colorado is so hit and miss,” she continued. “But I was pretty happy improving nine shots on the second day.”
Head coach Sadie Farnsworth said the spring season is definitely one of the toughest parts of the year.
“Coming into the spring season is rough,” she said. “We had not played a consecutive 18 holes in about two weeks before we competed. Alex [Darwin], Forre [Zook] and Amanda [Crites] played well in that situation.”
“We have struggled this season,” she added. “Coming off of a great fall season, our team expectations were high. We are still overcoming hurdles as a newer, young team.”
The Mountain Lions then hosted the inaugural UCCS Invitational March 28-29, finishing third out of four teams. Farnsworth said that it was an unimpressive showing.
“Our home tournament was a battle,” she said. “The team really felt the pressure to play well. It was not our best performance, but I think each player learned.”
The team next traveled to California for the NCAA Regional Spring Preview, where Zook recorded a hole-in-one.
“I’ve never had a hole-in-one before, even in practice, so hitting one in a tournament was definitely exciting,” she said.
“Right when I hit it, it looked good. It was solid headed a little left of the pin and then it landed, rolled maybe five feet and just disappeared.”
At the Colorado Mesa Invitational April 13-14, the team finished sixth out of eight teams. The team plays next in Avondale, Ariz. for the RMAC Championships April 20-21.