It’s been that kind of a season for the Illinois women’s golf team. In a tournament that had junior Ember Schuldt finish tied for ninth place individually, the Illini could not fare better than 15th among the field of 18.

The greens of the 7,140-yard, par-72 Forrest Hill Golf Club in Augusta, Ga., provided a challenge substantial enough to persuade the coaching staff to change up the pre-tournament preparations. During the practice round, the team focused heavily on putting, which was by far the weak spot during the previous tournament.

“The golf course was a great test,” head coach Renee Slone said. “The greens are extremely challenging. For some of our players, they did not handle the greens well at all.”

The one exception was Schuldt, who finished the tournament with an overall score of 6-over-par, which was good enough for her first top-10 finish since the Wolverine Invitational this past September. She shot rounds of 3-over: 75, 73 and 74, just 7 strokes behind the leader, Notre Dame’s Ashley Armstrong.

“The putting was the big key on these greens,” Schuldt said. “Overall, I was pretty happy with my game.”

Schuldt also attributed her play to mentally getting back to the basics. She tried to remember what it was like playing junior golf, and it helped to just focus on what she needed to do.

“(She had) solid ball striking,” Slone said. “She had a ton of shots within 10 feet of the hole.”

Between Schuldt’s success and the continual willingness to try new things in practice, the Illini did manage to improve upon their last tournament, but there is still more to do.

“I felt that we all had the motivation to make it a better tournament than the last,” sophomore Samantha Postillion said.

After a first-round tally of 85, Postillion rebounded with scores of 77 and 74 in the second and third rounds, respectively. She ended up tied for 50th with 20-over.

Sophomore Pimploy Thirati finished tied for 75th, with a score of 28-over. Sophomore Jacqueline Calamaro tied for 88th, with a mark of 34-over, and senior Crystal Smith placed 97th, with a 47-over.

“We can’t have rounds in the 80s,” Slone said. “You just can’t do that. It makes for a very, very challenging tournament.”

The Illini will continue to work through spring break as they get ready for the Marsh Landing Invitational, which starts April 8 in Ponte Vedra, Fla. The coaching staff will continue to re-evaluate the team’s preparation process, looking for improvement.

“As a team, we just simply didn’t get it done,” Slone said. 

Alex can be reached at [email protected] and @AlexOrtiz2334.