Torrential rains, winds howling at 40 plus miles-per-hour and temperatures well below average have not dampened the spirits of Creighton’s women golfers.
“Golf is hard enough,” women’s head coach Debbie Conry said, in a phone interview. “Throw in 40 mph winds on a saturated golf course and it is just wearing.”
The spring season began in Florida, well known as the Sunshine State. The sun only lasted two days, however, before rain came on day three. Sophomore Maureen White was in one of the first groups out in the morning and finished with a one-over-par 72, her best of the three rounds. The effort was all for naught, as the third round was cancelled and the 72 was non-existent in the scorebook.
“It was definitely disappointing,” White said. “But, it helped me mentally.”
Next was a trip to Patterson, Calif., where the women were greeted with near-freezing temperatures and howling wind on day one of competition.
“That course [Diablo Grande Ranch] was the hardest one I have seen in my 15 years [as a coach],” Conry said. “There were hazards everywhere, on both sides of the hole.”
“It was miserable to be outside,” White said.
They could not escape the weather last weekend in Carbondale, Ill., either. The rain again wreaked havoc on the course, pushing tee times back from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
“The golf course was extremely wet,” sophomore Betsy Conry said. “But in conditions that aren’t ideal, you just have to get past it and realize what needs to be done to succeed.”
The team has been forced to play with extra focus and come together because of the weather.
“I have great kids,” Conry said. “[In those weather situations] I just tell them that they have to compete and want to play. Everyone else is playing through it and we will too.”
The women have had three top-10 finishes this spring and enter the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference next week hoping for a strong effort.
“If we get consistency every day and four scores in the 70s,” Conry said, “I think we can finish very high.”
The team is young, with only two seniors on the roster. One junior, two sophomores and three freshmen comprise the rest of the team. Coach Conry said everyone has contributed throughout the season and she thinks the women have played well overall.
“Both Betsy and Maureen have improved their stroke averages and Leigh [Sutton] has been pretty consistent,” Conry said. “My three freshmen have been improving and I can’t say enough about the work ethic of Rachel Byleen, my other senior, who is also a sophomore in Pharmacy school and still makes it to three or four practices a week.”
The MVC Tournament is being held in Omaha next week on April 13-15 at Oak Hills Country Club. The long-range forecast calls for highs in the 60s.