The women’s golf team heads to Normal, Ill., this weekend to compete in its first tournament of the season, the Redbird Invitational.
Coach Kelly Ovington said the team has been working hard to prepare for the season and this weekend’s matchup.
“Everybody has been working extremely hard over the summer and in this past week in qualifiers and practice. I’m looking for some people to go low,” Ovington said.
The team has a big hole to fill now that Megan Weaver graduated, leaving the top spot on the team currently vacant.
“Some girls are looking to take over the No. 1 spot this season. Several candidates are looking to step up and take the spot, but it will be tough because we have a pretty competitive team,” Ovington said.
One possible candidate is junior Kara Brinkmann. This past offseason, Brinkmann worked on her putting stroke in an effort to improve her scores.
“I was missing putts that I shouldn’t have been missing because I was pulling or coming out of the putt,” Brinkmann said. “I worked a lot the past couple weeks of summer on my putting. I’ve been working on staying down on the stroke, which will help to improve my overall game.”
Brinkmann thinks the team will do well this weekend, despite facing stiff competition that includes Akron, Ball State, Bowling Green and Toledo.
“I expect it to be a really good starting tournament for us, we played really well there last year. We’ll have great competition, and I think it’ll be a great start for our season,” Brinkmann said.
Ovington is excited about incoming players, including Angela Codian, who won the TaylorMade Adidas Tour Championship. She finished with a score of +13 defeating a field of 20 others golfers.
“I’m very excited because both of our freshmen qualified to travel this weekend. Both have been preparing and should definitely contribute to our team scores this weekend,” Ovington said. “I could see either woman stepping up and scoring low for us this weekend.”
jd202409@ohiou.edu
