While the DePauw Small College Classic is technically a home tournament for the Tigers, head coach Vince Lazar said the match was home in name only.
Because they competed on the Deer Creek golf course in Clayton, Ind., the Tigers were not able to practice on the course as much as they would have liked before the tournament, which was also disrupted by the inclement weather.
During the two-day weekend tournament, the teams were able to play through 18 holes Saturday but planned on only nine Sunday due to heavy rain. They were able to play nine holes, but none of the coaches who were in attendance knew the NCAA does not recognize nine-hole events. As a result, the only day that counted was Saturday.
"A one-day tournament like this is a difficult barometer to read," said head coach Vince Lazar. "Anything can happen in one day. And as a coach, team and a player, you want as many opportunities to complete a tournament. You have to be careful to read too much into Saturday."
DePauw completed the one-day tournament in second place to Centre College. Senior Kelly Gaughan finished tied for second individually while senior Taylor Beaty and sophomore Abby Dickey finished tied for seventh.
Although the tournament lasted just one day, Lazar said his golfers must keep this fourth straight second-place finish in perspective and continue to improve individual play.
"We know we're not a bad team," Lazar said. "We are probably a top-five team in the country. It would be nice to win a tournament with four second-place finishes. Those tournaments we lost to very good teams."
Lazar points to his team's mentality on individual holes as an aspect that could use improvement. Instead of thinking of the next shot, he wants his players to stay in the right mind set of the current stroke and work on individual play.
"Coming in second and being so close to winning, it's something we've really broken down into individual goals for each one of us," Beaty said. "It's really fun at the end to put it together, but it comes down to it on the course that it's you and that shot."
The practice situation for the Tigers also disrupted the way they prepare for tournaments. Though the golf course is 30 minutes away, the team had little opportunity to play through the 18-hole course because of golf outings at the course and a tough academic schedule during the week.
"The golf course had outings this week and weather was an issue," Lazar said. "I can say with some certainty that I doubt all of our players played all 18 holes before they got there. We weren't into our normal flow."
Regardless of the practice situation, the team has the ability to reach the top of the Div. III standings if it can work on individual performances.
"We have yet to play well," Lazar said. "We had sporadic good play from individuals, but as a group, we haven't had a day where we are all clicking and playing well. Hopefully, we are just getting better."
Next weekend, the team will travel to Meadville, Pa., for the Allegheny Invitational.