Both the men's and women's golf teams competed last weekend in different tournaments and had different goals and results.
The teams now find themselves at different ends of the spectrum in terms of their overall strength and development of their golfers.
On the women's side, the team competed at the O'Brien National Invitational and took second place overall, just one stroke behind the champion, Methodist University. The Tigers were led by sophomore Paige Gooch who finished in a tie for sixth, shooting a 156, including a 72 in the second round. Head coach Vince Lazar credited Gooch's strong putting play for her excellent finish and thought that, as a whole, the team played impressively.
"Everybody played very consistently," Lazar said. "If you look at the team scores across the board, we probably played the most consistently. We know we still have our work cut out for us as some teams got a lot better."
Losing by just one stroke was also a tough pill to swallow for Lazar and his team.
"We were disappointed to come that close and not get it done," Lazar said. "But it gives us something to build off for the rest of the semester."
One aspect to build off for the rest of the season, according to Lazar, will be the short game.
"You walk away from each tournament counting the opportunities which you gave up that were extremely simple," Lazar said of missed putting opportunities. "We probably left 20 shots out there on the course."
One the men's side, while Lazar was traveling with the women, assistant coach Chris Clemens accompanied the men to the Denison Fall Classic. Taking a very young team to compete, the men's team was looking to get its new golfers some experience playing at the collegiate level.
"It's still a pretty big adjustment from high school because there are some different rules and also just better players," said sophomore Charlie Castino. "There will be guys with aspirations to join the PGA tour and that could be pretty stressful."
Senior Ryan Berra led the team at the Classic, shooting a 145 and finishing in a tie for ninth. Freshmen Eric Tandy and Brandon Bekkering finished tied for 16th and 18th with scores of 151 and 152, respectively. Castino finished in a tie for 23rd with a final score of 155.
"A lot of improvement is just going to come from the fact that everybody is going to be more comfortable coming back as a group and into a routine," Castino said. "The coaches are not going to throw anything new at us, so we're going to be more comfortable playing our own game."
This weekend, the men will compete at the Guy W. Kuhn Invitational in Meadville, Pa. The women will travel to the Illinois Wesleyan Fall Classic in Normal, Ill. Lazar hopes both teams can continue to improve their play by focusing on each shot independently.
"Take the best shot they can in relation to the hole they're playing and not so much worry about what the score is relevant to the hole," Lazar said. "You have a pressure building on each shot then the number of shots keep building. Take it one shot at a time and they will find success."