The Winthrop women’s golf team saw improvements during the Mimosa Hills Intercollegiate tournament hosted at Appalachian State University on April 4 and April 5.
“We have played some tight golf courses this season and we knew going into Mimosa Hills that the course was more open than the previous courses we had played,” head golf coach Kasay Gambrell said.
“Ultimately, we wanted to build confidence by hitting more fairways and greens on our rounds, which in turn would lead to better scores. We still struggled a bit around the greens, but we did increase out fairways and green numbers, along with seeing some better scores.”
During this tournament, the team had better ball striking and better scores.
“It boosted all of the team’s confidence and has made all of them excited to get to the Big South Tournament and compete again,” Gambrell said.
Currently, team is preparing to compete in the Big South Championship tournament.
“Over the last month, we have played in three tournaments back-to-back, which has allowed up to stay in the competitive mindset going into the conference tournament,” Gambrell said. “Over the last few days, we have been focusing on fine tuning our short game. The girls enjoy playing at The Patriot and are ready to compete and put up some good numbers.”
As the team is preparing for the upcoming Big South Championship tournament, the team hopes to finish in the top four and ultimately win the Big South.
“We have the talent to do so, we just all have to be on our game at the same time,” Gambrell said.
Looking back over this season, the team has had their share of struggles in addition to various accomplishments.
“Due to the struggles this season, I believe our mental game has improved,” Gambrell said.
Emilie Marceliussen-Dahl was a co-medalist in the Golfweek Fall Challenge, the first event of the season. Regan Clifford shot a 74 at the 2022 Georgia State Women’s Spring Invitational, and Valentine Savioz shot a 74 at the most recent tournament at Mimosa Hills.
As the season comes to a close in the next few weeks, the team will begin focusing on the next season.
“We will have individual meetings to go over expectations for the summer and things they need to work on,” Gambrell said. “Our strength coach, Coach Travis, will also create a workout program for the girls to do over the summer to stay up with their strength training.”
The team currently has two incoming freshmen, Emily Baker from Chapin, South Carolina and Amelie Tolf coming from Sweden.
“They both have had an outstanding junior golf and high school careers. Overall, I think both girls will fit in well with the current team,” Gambrell said. “As far as their golf games go, both will provide us with some depth in the line-up through the four and five spots.”
The team will be competing in the Big South Championship tournament held at the Patriot Golf Club in Ninety Six, South Carolina on April 13 until April 16.
“Our team is full of talent, and I do expect us to have a good fall season and hopefully win a tournament,” Gambrell said.
