Yes, it was cold and windy. Yes, it was one of the one of the more difficult courses on the schedule. Yes, the entire week of practice was marred by rain, but the Illinois women’s golf team is making no excuses. 

Among a 12-team field, the Illini came in 11th place at the Lady Buckeye Invitational at the Scarlet Golf Course in Columbus, Ohio, wrapping up regular season play. This is the fifth time, out of 10 this year, that the team has finished second-to-last or last in a tournament. It’s the eighth time it has finished outside of the top 10.

“The initial reaction would be disappointing,” assistant coach Jackie Szymoniak said. “Unfortunately we were not able to eliminate the big numbers.”

As a team, Illinois scored a 92-over, 956 in three rounds at the par-72, 6,268-yard course. That was 52 strokes behind the leader, Michigan State. The team posted over 130 bogeys, 24 double bogeys and only 17 birdies. 

The big numbers came about because of what has been, at best, the least consistent part of the game for the Illini — the short game. It was an all-around disappointment for the tournament. The players had trouble conquering the larger greens that made for longer putts and higher scores. It also did not help that because the greens were larger, there was more variation on the greens, which meant more undulation and inconsistent surfaces.

“One of the keys was putting,” Szymoniak said. “Our speed control on the longer putts wasn’t up to par … (that) was probably the biggest thing.” 

Putting was the killer on the first day, and it showed with a team score of 315. That was only good enough for eight strokes behind the round one leader. During Day Two, inconsistent chipping was added to put Illinois further and further behind with rounds of 320 and 321. The short game will undoubtedly be the focus of practice this week if the team wants to achieve any semblance of consistency.

“It’ll be nothing but short game,” Szymoniak said. “We really need to improve on our chipping, pitching … and long putting more than anything.”

Individually, even the two players that have performed well going into the tournament had their fair share of struggles. Sophomore Samantha Postillion and junior Ember Schuldt were both in a nine-way tie for 26th place with a 20-over, 236.

“I just struggled to find a rhythm,” Postillion said. “I was, unfortunately, a little more streaky. … For me, I want to smooth that out.”

Schuldt and Postillion both posted a season-low tournament score in the last two competitions, but the solid finish they hoped for was never in reach. 

“My scores, I felt, did not show how well I was playing leading up to the tournament,” Schuldt said.

As for the rest of the group, sophomore Michelle Mayer finished 46th with a 27-over, sophomore Pimploy Thirati was tied for 52nd with a 31-over, sophomore Jacqueline Calamaro and senior Kaitlyn Wampler both were tied for 56th with a 34-over. Even though six players made the trip, only the top four scores would make up the tournament total. Still, it was not enough.

Schuldt acknowledged that while everyone played under the same conditions, it was harder to stick to a game plan because of all of the hindrances forcing players to be unsure of how to adjust their strategy. Even the slightest of uncertainty can cause even a simple club change to negatively affect confidence and scores. Still, the team will use what it can from the tournament to find some sort of steadiness going into the Big Ten Championship.

“I think (the Lady Buckeye Invitational) just helps us prepare mentally … with what shots we need to work on,” Schuldt said. “(It’s about) mentally just being tough-minded and confident.”

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