WOMEN
Senior golfer Emily Swift said she really wants to beat 14-time consecutive national champion Methodist University (N.C.) this year.
“In terms of Division III golf, Methodist is always the team to beat,” Swift said. “We’ve got our eyes set on them this year, I think everyone does.”
Eau Claire, ranked No. 6 nationally by the NCAA, will start their spring season off in Illinois at the Illinois Wesleyan Spring Fling April 14th.
Coach Meghan Sobotta says that the sky is the limit for this squad after an impressive fall season.
“My expectations are pretty high,” Sobotta said. “We came off of a 54-stroke win at conference in the fall, and I think that was great motivation for the
upcoming season.”
Four of the five starters for the spring season team have been solidified and given to three seniors and a junior. The fifth and final spot has yet to be won and will be given to
a freshman.
Swift said it will be interesting to see who gets the final spot.
“All of the freshmen have worked so hard over winter break,” Swift said. “Kate Engler got the spot last season, but it wouldn’t surprise me if it was very competitive for that last spot.”
After the Illinois Wesleyan tournament, the team will play the Wartburg course, which Sobotta also thinks will be a course at which the team can excel.
“It is a course that they know, and usually my girls play well there,” Sobotta said. “Then we end the season at home before nationals. It should be a great Spring.”
The home courses that Sobotta is referring to are the Wild Ridge Golf Course as well as Mill Run Golf Course. The Blugold Spring Invitational will end the spring season before Nationals and will be held on April 28 and 29.
MEN
On the men’s team, the ultimate goal is not unlike the women’s. They want to shoot well individually and as a team throughout the remainder of the season and ultimately make it to nationals, junior golfer Tim McCormick said.
McCormick said he is motivated to have a great spring season this year.
“Every time we go out to win. We want to win everything,” McCormick said. “We want to make it to nationals, and the only way we can do that is if we go out and do well in the tournaments.”
The fall season was an up-and-down outing for the men’s golf team. They took last place at the Gordin Classic on both September 25 and 26, yet took home two second place finishes and a win at the last tournament of the season at the Gustavus Adolphus Twin Cities Classic.
First year coach Mike Greer says he sees a lot of potential with this group going forward after the team played well in the last tournament in the fall.
“I think we underachieved in the fall. With that said, we showed some improvement and actually played pretty well that last weekend,” Greer said. “We worked extremely hard in the offseason and I think our expectations are high.”
The team travelled to Arizona over spring break to kick off their spring season, something that McCormick thinks can only benefit the team.
“It was good to get with the top five guys that will be hitting this year,” McCormick said. “I think our camaraderie improved a lot and we got our goals straight … it really was a great way to start the season.”
The men’s schedule starts Friday when the team travels to St. Cloud, Minn., for the Saint John’s Spring Triangular.
