Women’s golf ends on high note, young golfers look ahead
The Iowa women’s golf team finished the spring season by taking fifth place at the Big Ten championships on Sunday — the team’s best finish in 14 years. But it didn’t come following a strong 2009 showing.
The season was a continuous climb in which a battle with weather and consistency kept the golfers from peaking at the right time.
Veteran golfers on the team struggled. The youths of the team held their own but experienced frustration. Yet, the Hawkeyes focused on mental training all year and finally pulled it together.
“When we needed to get the job done, we did,” Iowa head coach Kelly Crawford said. “We improved each round at Big Tens and posted our season best total on the last day.”
Sunday’s round of 305 pushed the team four spots into fifth place, despite winds blowing at 20 to 30 mph, sometimes gusting into the 40s.
The team was able to overcome the windy challenge — along with wet greens — after an experience at the Lady Buckeye Invitational on April 19. The Hawkeyes played through a mixture of wind, rain, snow, sleet, and hail and finished 12th.
“It has been a tough season, and to finish on such a high note is great for our program,” Crawford said. “I think the women were able to apply their mental skills and overcome very challenging conditions that many other teams seemed to struggle with.”
Seniors Tyrette Metzendorf and Becky Quinby were not only the team’s veteran golfers pushing each other for the top two spots on the roster, their younger teammates say they were role models, teachers, and contributors.
“We are really going to miss Becky and Tyrette, who both contributed so much in a golf respect and even more with their awesome friendships they provided all of us on the team,” said sophomore Laura Cilek, who earned the Big Ten’s Sportsmanship award for the team this week.
The duo tied for 10th — a season high prior to Big Tens — at the Baylor Spring Invitational on March 17, which earned them co-Big Ten Golfer of the Week honors.
“[Tyrette] is a great role model and leader, always doing the right thing on and off the course,” junior Alison Cavanaugh said.
Metzendorf was Iowa’s sharpshooter in her junior season, barely missing the cut for the NCAA regional and finishing third at the Big Ten match.
However, Metzendorf struggled to consistently shoot in the 70s this spring, but carded rounds of 78, 75, 76, and 74 at Big Tens (303), good enough for a third-place finish for the second consecutive year.
“Tyrette did not play as well this season as she did last year,” Crawford said. “So I am really glad that she was able to end her career with a third place finish at Big Tens.”
Quinby pushed Metzendorf all year long for the No. 1 spot on the team, tying her in Columbus and finishing ahead at the Indiana University Invitational on April 7. Quinby’s work ethic led her to a top-20 finish in the Big Tens, tying for 15th.
Iowa also got impressive contributions from its youth this spring, including Cavanaugh, Cilek, sophomores Brianna Coopman and Lauren Forbes, and freshman Chelsea Harris.
Losing Metzendorf and Quinby next year will be big for the Hawkeyes, but with this year’s experience and an impressive class of freshmen coming in who are expected to contribute immediately, the future is bright.
“We've all pushed each other to get better and elevate our games to the next level,” said Cavanaugh, who will be the team’s only senior next season. “I’m excited about the success of returning players and incoming freshman class. This is just the beginning.”
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