Women’s golf eyeing NSIC Championship
Much like the weather, the women’s golf season is starting to heat up for the Mavericks. Minnesota State has already participated in three tournaments during the spring and only one remains until the NSIC Championships in Morton, Minnesota.
Minnesota State has continued to improve over the spring season and look to continue this trend leading into the big tournaments coming up in a few weeks. The Mavericks are coming off their best team effort at the Upper Iowa Invitational. Held at Sunnyside Country Club in Waterloo, Iowa, MSU finished third in the pool of eight teams with a score of +89. Leading the charge for the Mavericks was a trio of sophomores. Sophomore Nattiya Somboonsup tied for fifth (+18) posting 81’s both days, sophomore Haley Tollette took seventh (+20) and shot 77/87, and sophomore Abbe Partington tied for tenth (+23) shooting 86/81 to round out the top ten. Not to be forgotten however is freshman Kayla Thielen, who tied for 16th (+28) after posting scores of 82/90 and junior Genie Short (+30) rounded out the top-20 after a couple of rounds in which she shot 85/89.
The Mavericks have participated in two other tournaments this spring as well. First, Minnesota State took a flight to the southwest as they competed in the SMSU Spring Invite. The SMSU Spring Invite is held in Litchfield Park, Arizona at the Wigwam Resort Heritage Course. The Mavericks finished fifth with a score of +65. Final results don’t tell the whole story at this tournament though, as the field was very competitive and super close. Sophomore Haley Tollette’s golf game was as warm as the weather as she finished in a tie for first. Shooting terrific rounds of 75/74, Tollette finished +5 for the tournament. Sophomore Abbe Partington (+15) and Kayla Thielen (+18) also managed to crack the top-20 for Minnesota State.
Shortly after the SMSU Invite, MSU took their talents to Axtell, Nebraska to compete in the UNK Spring Invite. Awarii Dunes provided a stiff challenge for the field and Mavericks alike. MSU placed eight out of 17 teams and had a couple players play extremely solid golf. Tollette finished in a tie for sixth after rounds of 80/71 and sophomore Madison Jewell finished in a tie for 27th with scores of 80/78 respectively.
It will be interesting to see if the Mavericks can continue on the upward trend they are currently on. If they can, this team should contend with the top bunch of teams in their conference for the NSIC championship coming up in a few weeks.