Tigers place 10th in strong Texas tournament

Whether it was due to the stiff competition or simply the hot southern sun, the women's golf team withered a bit this weekend.

After a solid performance last weekend at Pinehurst, the Tigers were back out on the links at the par-72 Traditions Golf Club in Byron, Texas. They were one of 16 teams participating in what is called the Texas A&M Mo-Morial.

The Tigers took 10th place in the tournament, which was filled with many southern and western schools. Arizona State came in first place with an impressive total score of 29 over par. They were followed by USC at plus 40, UCLA and Oklahoma State at plus 53, University of Denver at plus 58 and the host Texas A&M placed sixth at plus 62.

Princeton finished the tournament at 94 over par, five strokes behind South Carolina, the University of Missouri and Oklahoma, who were all tied at seventh place with total scores of plus 89.

The Orange and Black finished in front of Texas, Kansas State, the University of Texas El Paso, Iowa State, Tulsa and Redlands College.

The top individual performance of the weekend belonged to Paola Moreno of USC, who finished at even par on the 72-stroke course. The No. 2, No. 3, and No. 5 finishers were all from Arizona State. In fact, all five Arizona State players finished within the top-34 players out of a field of 84 golfers.

Only two players carded rounds below par during the tournament. Moreno had a 70-stroke Saturday, while Arizona State's Jennifer Osborn turned in a 71 on the final day of the tournament.

The top Tiger was sophomore Susannah Aboff at 25 over par (80-77-84-241), followed by freshman Michelle Grilli at plus 27 (82-79-82-243) and senior Sharla Cloutier (76-89-78-243). Junior Annika Welander (80-87-78-245) and sophomore Marlowe Boukis (87-80-79-246) were plus 29 and plus 30, respectively.

In comparison to the field, Aboff tied for 43rd place, Grilli and Cloutier tied at 51st place, Welander tied at 55th place and Boukis took 58th.

Though the golfers were not at the top of the list, they were not that close to the bottom either. These steady individual performances allowed the team to remain close to the top end of the final standings.

The heat in Texas seemed to be an issue for some of the Tiger golfers. Most of the southern teams are used to playing golf at high temperatures, but it was a slight adjustment for the Tigers. There were some cases of sun poisoning among players on the team.

Though the results were not that great on paper, the team gained experience and practice by playing in a tournament with such strong competition.

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"We became better golfers this weekend. First, we were playing with some of the top teams in the nation, like Arizona State, UCLA and USC," Cloutier said. "They showed us that the key to being nationally competitive is minimizing your mistakes and taking anything higher than bogey out of the equation."

The course also proved to be difficult for many of the players, causing more elevated stroke numbers than usual throughout the field.

"The course was long, and there were hazards everywhere, which forced us to pay close attention to course management and precision," Cloutier said. "It wasn't just about powering your way around the course — you really had to think your way to par. This weekend was good preparation for the tough shots we'll face the rest of the season."