The Illinois women’s golf team ended its season with a last-place finish at the Big Ten Championship in French Lick, Ind., on Sunday. Following Day One, the Illini were in 9th place and still competitive following a first round team score of a 23-over-par 311. Days Two and Three saw higher scores and more struggles. The team recorded rounds of 318 and 317 to end its season.

Illinois was well aware of the challenges the par-72, 6,121-yard Donald Ross Course posed. Following a quick turnaround after the Lady Buckeye Invitational, the Illini focused on the features that made the course so difficult. Several types of elevations, hills and awkward lies were most concerning.

“The first day … course management seemed to be solid,” head coach Renee Slone said. “Unfortunately, we just weren’t able to build off of that the final two days. We had a good game plan going into it and just weren’t able to execute.”

The elevations at French Lick were difficult to simulate during practice. Illinois was not familiar with the specific course, but the coaches said many of the players should have seen a Donald Ross-designed course at some point. Even with limited foreknowledge, the obstacles proved too much.

“It seemed putting was a big key,” Slone said. “These greens did have a lot of undulation, and it helped to be on the upper side of the hole, and sometimes we were leaving ourselves on downhill sides.”

Even after a solid first round, the team struggled to put together full rounds of good play. Every hole posed a challenge and, individually, the Illini were not able to put it all together. Junior Ember Schuldt recorded the best round on Day Three with a 3-over 75. Her tournament total of a 16-over 232 was good enough to lead Illinois, tying for 32nd place.

“(I was) just really hoping to find a round to know all 18 holes,” Schuldt said. “It was just kind of a struggle to get all 18 holes in one round.”

Sophomores Michelle Mayer and Samantha Postillion tied for 45th with scores of 21-over. Sophomore Jacqueline Calamaro finished tied for 59th with a 27-over. Sophomore Pimploy Thirati tied for 64th with a 30-over and senior Kaitlyn Wampler finished 69th with a 40-over. 

“I agree that the undulation and the greens were extremely difficult,” Postillion said. “More so than other courses we’ve played this year. We didn’t give ourselves those birdie opportunities.”

If anything, the 2012-13 season will be seen as a learning experience for the Illini. Many players went into the year with limited experience competing on a college team and they look forward to the summer to prepare for next season. Mayer acknowledged that even with positive developments, there is still plenty to work on.

“One thing I really learned was that I can make par from anywhere,” Mayer said. “(I’ll be) just sticking with it and grinding. I think it will make us a lot more relaxed for tournaments.”

The experience will calm nerves about college competitions, and now the players can focus on the mechanical aspect of the game. Slone and assistant coach Jackie Szymoniak will spend the next couple of weeks evaluating and meeting with players.

“The key thing (for next year) is that we have more experience,” Slone said. “Players were able to compete a lot this year. Every time we tee off … it’s a learning opportunity.“

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