Hot off one of its best finishes in school history, the Ohio women’s golf team will head to Richmond, Ky. for the Lady Colonel Classic this weekend.
The Bobcats will see a tough slate of competition, including in-state foes such as Akron, Bowling Green, Cleveland State and Xavier. The Bobcats finished ahead of Akron in last weekend’s Ocala Spring Invitational in Florida, but their toughest test will come from the University of Cumberland, which has shown tremendous success by finishing in first place in all four of its tournaments this season.
However, Ohio will be playing on a course that is similar to where it practices in Athens, as the Athens Country Club and the Arlington Golf Course both contain many hills, so the team will be familiar with how to play the ball when it lands.
Coach Kelly Ovington is excited for the weekend and the performance of the team so far this season.
“Everyone is prepared,” Ovington said. “We like this course and everyone is familiar with it.”
During preparation for tournaments, Ovington assigns a theme for each practice so the team spends a solid amount of time working on each aspect of its game. That helps the team focus on the smaller parts of play which will help the players make the small adjustments they will need to be successful each weekend:
“Each practice we have a theme. I’m making sure I am confident in them,” Ovington said. “Golf takes so much time. We want it to be fun, (so) we do a lot of outside activities. Everyone is pretty relaxed (for this weekend).”
One member of the team who is hopeful to continue her recent success is freshman freshman Hailey Hyrnewich, a native of Muskegon, Mich. After finishing third overall last weekend and breaking a school record with her score of 218—good for two over par—she was named the Mid-American Conference women’s golfer of the week. Hyrnewich is the first Bobcat to earn the award since 2012.
The Bobcats will endure another weekend of tough competition, but with a relaxed yet focused mindset and a course familiar to home, Ohio is hopeful for another successful weekend.
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