The University of Illinois women’s golf team had only one day to prepare to play on a course designed by Jack Nicklaus. But the Illini held a team meeting on Thursday in which juniors Stephanie Miller and Emily Joers advised them on what to expect.

“We were just trying to give as much insight as we could to the sophomores and Bing (Singhsumalee),” Miller said. “I think we did a good job.”

Illinois will compete in Kiawah Island, South Carolina, at the Palmetto Intercollegiate Oct. 24-27 on the Turtle Point Golf Course.

It features thin fairways, small greens with Bermuda grass, and was designed by golfing legend Jack Nicklaus. The course’s Bermuda grass will stick to the ball.

The following description can be found on the course’s website.

“Jack Nicklaus once said that his number one goal in golf course design was to ‘make the player use his mind ahead of his muscles – to control his emotions sufficiently to really think through his options before drawing a club from the bag. To that we say, welcome to Turtle Point Golf Club.”

Joers and Miller are the only Illini with experience on the course. Joers and Miller tied for 26th and 22nd, respectively, at the 2013 tournament. Joers will not play in the Palmetto Intercollegiate due to a concussion, but she returned to practice on Thursday.

Illinois practiced its short game the most for this week’s tournament. The golfers did 3-10-foot putts to work on their putt speed.

“(We were) trying to make sure you hit it (the ball) a little harder, because the grass out there is different,” Miller said. “It doesn’t break like bent grass.”

Even then, head coach Renee Slone said birdies are possible with the course’s short par 5s and 4s. She said placement off the tee is more important than at the Cardinal Cup.

Holes 14-16, which lie next to the Atlantic Ocean, could pose the toughest challenge for the Illini, Miller says. In fact, the course’s website says the back right pin placement of the par 3 16th could “make it almost impossible to get the ball near the hole.”

That’s not factoring in potential wind.

“There will be some (rough) shots,” Miller said. “But we just have to keep them under control and limit the damage, and just think about what we are there to do, and have confidence in ourselves that we can do it.”

The Palmetto Intercollegiate is the women’s golf team’s last tournament of the fall season. Miller said the team wants to end the season positively, but she’s entering the tournament without any expectations or pressure.

“We have to make sure we give it (the tournament) our all, and not just go into it thinking, ‘Oh, yeah, it’s our last tournament. That’s OK,’” Miller said. “It’s the mindset, ‘It’s our last tournament. We got to make it a good one.’”

Swinging for consistency

Illinois is focused on trying to have three “solid” rounds in a tournament. The Illini ranked fourth at 15-over after the first two rounds of their last competition, the Cardinal Cup. They then shot 24-over in the last round, dropping them to ninth. It was the third-worst team score of the round.

“Some team members lost their way as far as remembering that focusing on the process will allow the results to come, instead of putting undo pressure in thinking about the results more,” Slone said.

Miller said the team needs to focus on one shot at a time and not think about previous scores. Miller fell 17 positions in the leaderboard of the Cardinal Cup’s last round.

Grace Park said it’s not easy to shoot three consistent rounds. She dropped 17 positions in the last round of last week’s tournament.

“Whatever happens, happens,” Park said. “We can’t control the result.”

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