The Wolf Pack golf team is already driving fast into this season as they attended the Innisbrook Invitational in Palm Harbour, Florida, where they just barely escaped Hurricane Ian on Oct. 1.
The women’s team tied for second place with William Carey University, which ranked No. 6 in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, at a mere nine shots behind Cumberland University, which ranked No. 8. The men’s team finished 14th at the tournament.
And after three all-american players graduated last spring, Head Coach Cory Amory was eager to see newer faces on the green performing well.
“It was exciting to see some of the younger players compete,” Amory said. “The team showed toughness and maturity throughout the three rounds of the tournament and their hard work at practice paid off with really good scores.”
All five players finished in the top 20 in the tournament, according to Amory. Freshman Catherine Singletary earned the women’s golfer of the week award, finishing T-4, or tied four fourth place.
Amory hopes to continue “doing the little things right to maximize (the team’s) chances for success” for the rest of the season, and into the upcoming tournament at the Faulkner Match Play Invitational on Oct. 10 and11.
“We definitely left some shots out there, but there were plenty of good things to build off of going forward,” Amory said. The course “heavily penalizes small mistakes,” according to Amory, but the team remained composed and put up a tough fight through the 36 holes at Innisbrook.
The men’s team beat out a NAIA top 25 ranked team and was only 10 shots behind Dalton State University, which was ranked No. 2. Sophomore Arthur Mijic finished at T-12.
Amory said he is ready to continue to “implement good habits and attitudes” for a successful season.