Jan. 28, 2009

Go behind the scenes of Illinois women's golf with "Chip Shots", the online golf journal. In the seventh edition of the season, freshman Katelin Dilger recaps the first ever Illinois Challenge held in Naples, Fla., against Illinois State.

The Fighting Illini Women's Golf Team had a great start to the spring season this past weekend. We played the very first Illinois Challenge at The Hide Out Golf Club in Florida. This was a dual match against Illinois State and was quite a bit different than previous events.

The format of the Illinois Challenge was 36 holes. The first 18 holes were played with another teammate in a best ball format. The second 18 was single person match play. The results of the match were 7-6 Fighting Illini. This match was not only a confidence booster for our team, but it was also a great way for us all to bond.

The entire team was lucky enough to travel to Florida and get to play a great course, and the alternative format provided a different mental test than stroke play. This experience will help us in upcoming tournaments as we continue to work on our physical and mental games.

On Friday night we also got the chance to meet with past alumni and Illini supporters at Stonebridge Country Club. Thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Dick Hammer for welcoming us to Stonebridge. We enjoyed meeting everyone! Another great part of that night was meeting Mr. and Mrs. Ben Gildersleeve, who are both Illinois alums and have been married for 67 years. It was so interesting to hear about their stories while attending U of I.

On our last day in Florida we got to enjoy the warm weather a little longer by practicing at Lely Resort. It had a great practice facility and as always our practice had some interesting moments. Hailey found a coconut that had fallen out of a tree and we decided to open it up. After Abby's attempt with an 8 iron (which got stuck) we managed to get it out and Hailey and Raquel gave it a try. Because the coconut wasn't ripe yet it didn't taste the best. But like always the trip was fun and we got the chance to learn more about each other and our golf games.

Keep following our progress for the rest of the spring season. Go Illini!

~Katie