Sept. 11, 2012
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Fort Collins, Colo. -
Illinois head coach Renee Slone called molding this year's team "a process." Of the five players that the Illini took to the season-opening Colonel Wollenberg's Ram Classic, four of them combined for eight collegiate tournaments in the Orange and Blue. That inexperience shown in a 16th-place overall finish.
"It takes time," Slone said after Tuesday's final round, "We have a lot of players who are just getting their feet wet at the collage level and are learning course management skills. Our lack of experience means some inconsistencies. As a whole, we need to develop a consistency in our practice routines and our pre-shot routines to help produce more positive consistent results."
Redshirt sophomore Samantha Postillion, a transfer from the University of Texas, paced the Illinois squad with a tie for 39th at +13. Postillion had the most consistent performance as well with rounds of 76-77-76 on the 6,302 par-72 Ptarmigan Course in Ft. Collins, Colo.
Illinois finished the tournament with a score of 935 (+71) for the three-day tournament after a round of 320 on Tuesday. Junior Ember Schuldt, who is the only player in the line-up with significant experience for the Illini, tied for 52nd in the 90-player field at +16 after rounds of 75, 78 and 79. Redshirt sophomore Jacqueline Calamaro (81-71-86) and sophomore Pimploy Thirati (81-78-79) tied for 69th at +22 while sophomore Michelle Mayer (81-76-90) finished 82nd at +31.
Texas Tech posted a dominating 27-shot victory over second-place Baylor, finishing the tournament at -4 while the Bears were +23 as a team. UNLV (+27), San Jose State (+28), Louisville (+32) and Nevada (+32) rounded out the top-five teams. New Mexcio's Manon DeRoey was the individual medalist at -9 after rounds of 69-68-70.
Illinois plays two more tournaments in the next 10 days, starting with the Dale McNamera Invitational in Tulsa, Okla., on Sept. 17-18.
"Hopefully we'll learn from this weekend," Slone said. "Our plan is simply to put our noses to grindstone and get in some old-fashioned hard work to improve."
Complete final results can be found at golfstatresults.com.
