Nov. 13, 2008
Fall 2008 Illinois Women's Golf Stats
Illinois made history during the 2008 fall season when they sent five freshmen to the opening tournament for the first time in the program's history. The young Illini squad, consisting of seven freshmen, one sophomore and one senior, practiced patience and made strides throughout the year as they gained experience with each tournament.
The Orange and Blue began the fall at the Chip-N-Club Invitational in Lincoln, Neb., where they finished 10th out of 13 teams. Freshmen Hailey Koschmann and Samantha Sloan, the team leaders in stroke average, both placed in the top 20 to lead the way for the Illini. Koschmann tied for 14th, while Sloan tied for 20th with her season-low tournament total (228).
"We got off to a pretty good start in Nebraska," head coach Renee Slone said. "Obviously, taking all freshmen to the event was going to be a little challenging, but I thought they handled that pretty well."
Koschmann got off to a quick start at Wisconsin's Badger Invitational, firing a 69 in the opening round to tie the fourth-lowest single round in school history and lead the event. The Lake Forest, Ill., native wrapped up the tournament in a tie for 14th for the second straight time as the Illini finished in ninth place. Her 54-hole total of 224 ranked as the team's low individual tournament of the fall.
"That just goes to show what she is capable of to see her be able to do that in her second tournament," said Slone about Koschmann's opening round. "It was quite a feat, but experience plays a big role in being able to put yourself in that position time and time again and finish the job."
Illinois carded its lowest round and tournament score of the fall at the Windy City Collegiate Classic, notching a 299 in the event's second round on its way to a 54-hole total of 920. The Illini placed ninth in the event hosted by Northwestern, paced by Koschmann's third straight top 20 finish (T-18th).
"We are capable of doing that, but it's just finding that consistency and doing it on a regular basis," said Slone of tallying a sub-300 round.
The Lady Northern, hosted by Purdue, provided insight and prepared for the Illini for the Big Ten Championship, which will also be played at the Kampen Course. Illinois finished 11th in the 14-team field, led by Sloan (T-29th) and Koschmann (T-39th).
At the Challenge at Wolfdancer, Illinois wrapped up its fall season with a 12th-place finish. Leading the Illini, Sloan (T-24th) tallied her fourth top-30 finish of the fall followed by senior Nancy Featherstone, who tied for 35th.
Slone and the Illini will continue to use the Demirjian Indoor Golf Facility throughout the winter to make improvements in preparation for the spring season. The third-year head coach wants to focus on short game and course management in order to minimize the big numbers in the future. The knowledge and experience accumulated throughout the fall will carry over into spring for the young Illini team.
"Everyone has learned a lot this semester and will be able to apply that in the spring," Slone said. "The freshmen now understand what competition at the collegiate level is all about, the time demands and what it takes to be successful."
