By CAITLIN HOFEN, Student Reporter
The Northwestern women’s golf team’s spring season is in full swing and packed with traveling.
The team opened its season at the Women’s Natural State Classic on March 1 and 2. The season opener was hosted by Harding University at the Cypress Creek Golf Club in Cabot, Arkansas.
The Lady Rangers finished last in the competition with 698 points.
Samantha Friday led the Lady Rangers with 170 points after two rounds of 18-holes. Ashley Watts followed Friday with 171 points.
Madison Masch finished the event with 177 points. Angela Egger and Savannah Monahan rounded out the team points.
The Lady Rangers competed at the Diffee Ford Lincoln Invitational on March 8 and 9. The golf tournament was hosted by Southern Nazarene University at Kickingbird Golf Course in Edmond.
The Lady Rangers finished in 12th place after scoring 677 points at the golf tournament. Northwestern tied with Great American Conference foe Southern Arkansas University and ahead of Oklahoma Baptist University by 24 shots.
Watts led Northwestern after she finished the tournament, tied for 38th place with a score of 165 points. Mackenna Tennyson scored 167 points, which helped her tie for 46th place. Campbell Payne finished the tournament with 168 points, finishing in 52nd place.
Masch followed Payne in the tournament with 169 points. After Masch, Egger recorded 171 points. Friday gave the Lady Rangers 173 points while Monahan gave the team 176 points.
The Lady Rangers competed in the Midwestern State Invitational on March 15 and 16. The team played at the Wichita Falls Country Club in Wichita Falls, Texas.
The team finished in 10th place after scoring 1063 points in three rounds over two days.
Masch led the Lady Rangers after she finished with 256 points in three rounds. Monahan finished the tournament with 268 points. Friday recorded 274 points for the Lady Rangers.
Tennyson posted 275 after three rounds. Egger rounded out the scoring for Northwestern with 276 points.
The Lady Rangers traveled to the HSU Spring Invite golf tournament on March 22 and 23. The golf tournament was hosted by Henderson State University at the Hot Springs Country Club in Hot Springs, Arkansas.
They finished in last place with 1020 points over three rounds. Masch led the Lady rangers with 247 points. She finished in a tie for 27th place.
Watts followed Masch with 257 points. She finished the tournament, tying a Southern Arkansas University golfer for 35th place.
Friday came next with 262 points, finishing in 39th place. Payne followed with 264 points, finishing in 40th place. Tennyson came next with 272 points, finishing in 41st place.
The Lady Rangers will compete in one more regular season tournament before the Great American Championship golf tournament. The team has traveled to all their tournaments this year.
“The biggest obstacle would be the traveling,” said head coach Nikkole Donk. “A lot of people don’t understand how much we travel and how often it is. It takes a lot of dedication to be a student-athlete. The tournaments we have already had have been rainy or super windy. We are struggling a little right now to get back in the swing of things but hopefully with these last few tournaments we can turn it around.”
Payne, a freshman from Broken Arrow, said the year has brought challenges to the team.
“As a team, we have grown together through trials and errors,” Campbell said. “We all want to play good, and we all strive to do our best, but we lift each other up at the same time.”
The women’s golf team will compete in one more regular season golf tournament before the Great American Conference championship tournament on April 19 and 20.