March 17, 2011

Go behind the scenes of Illinois women's golf with "Chip Shots," the online golf journal. In the tenth edition of the season, junior Hailey Koschmann talks about their host family in Florida, the beautiful weather and how they fared at the Eagle Landing Invite.

Hello Fighting Illini Fans,

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

We got back from our trip to Jacksonsville, Florida on Sunday night. We played at James Madison University's Eagle Landing Invitational. This is one of our favorite tournaments to play in, with the best part being that we get to stay with a host family. We have been staying with the Painters for the past couple of years and luckily got to stay with them again this year. It was so nice getting to stay in a house for a couple of days. Every morning, Mrs. Painter had breakfast out for us with cereal, bagels, fruit, yogurt and pretty much any breakfast food you can think of. We enjoyed getting to know the Painters better this year and really appreciate them welcoming us into their home every year. It is always a nice change to stay in a house for a few days while at a tournament rather than a hotel, where we have separate rooms.

The weather at the tournament couldn't have been nicer. The first round day was a little bit chilly and windy, but rounds two and three had ideal conditions. It was 75 and sunny both days. We played with Chattanooga the first day, the team that ended up winning the tournament, which we all really enjoyed. All of their players are international and I played with a girl from Australia. We had a strong second round in the tournament, passing a few teams after the first day, but didn't have as strong of a finish as we would have liked to. We know what we need to work on and are ready to practice this week to prepare for our spring break tournament in St. George, Utah! We will also be spending a day or two in Las Vegas to play a few courses there.

Go Illini!

Hailey