The Illinois women’s golf team took home sixth place in the Chrysler Challenge on Monday. Challenged by 20 to 25 mph winds, the Illini stepped up to the challenge after being on a three-month break. Head coach Renee Slone said the Illini had the opportunity to finish as high as fourth, but missed chances hurt the team in the long run. Slone said some mistakes could be attributed to the long layoff since October.

“Given that it was our first event and first time outside this year, I was pleased that our scores improved each day,” Slone said.

As the meet progressed, Slone said the players became more comfortable and settled down. One area of play Slone was disappointed with was the short game.

“I thought (our short play) would have been better given the amount of practice time we had in that area of the game the past month,” Slone said.

Junior Stephanie Mory stepped up for the Illini, shooting an Illinois tournament low of 76 for a three day total of 232.

“In the third round she played far better than her score indicates,” Slone said.

Slone expects the little mistakes to be eliminated by the time the team travels to Arizona for the Rio Verde Collegiate Invitational, especially the player’s putting. Slone said many players did not take advantage of any short putts they had.

“We’ve gotten off to a pretty good start, we just need to continue to work on short game and the ball strikes,” Slone said. “The more they are competing the better they will get.”