Women's Golf Confident Entering B1G Championships

April 25, 2014

Editor’s Note: The following first appeared in the University of Iowa’s Hawk Talk Daily, an e-newsletter that offers a daily look at the Iowa Hawkeyes, delivered free each morning to thousands of fans of the Hawkeyes worldwide.

IOWA CITY, Iowa — The University of Iowa women’s golf team tees it up today at the 2014 Big Ten Women’s Golf Championships in French Lick, Ind. The Hawkeyes’ focus is on the process.

“We have been stressing patience every week,” said UI head coach Megan Menzel. “It is important to not give up any strokes and keep fighting because it comes down to one or two shots every week.”

The Hawkeyes echoed their coach’s sentiments.

“We’re trying to keep our same routine; have confidence and believe in ourselves and trust that we can get the job done,” said sophomore Amy Ihm.

“We need to make sure we’re focused on every single shot and step up with confidence,” said freshman Allison Lindley, who hails from Kokomo, Ind. “If we do that we have a good chance of playing well.”

Iowa finished ninth at last year’s championships held at the Donald Ross Course. The 2014 event will be held at the 6,017-yard, par-72 Pete Dye Course. Both courses are located at French Lick Resort.

The championships begin today at 8 a.m. (CT). Saturday’s second round will also tee off at 8 a.m., while Sunday’s third round will begin at 7 a.m.

“I still feel like we haven’t all played well at the same time,” said Menzel. “We were better last week which was encouraging. We were a little more consistent.

“I love the way our freshmen are stepping up, and we always look to Shelby (Phillips) to have a big week. I’ve said it before that when she steps on the course she has a chance to win the golf tournament.”

Phillips paced Iowa during its record-setting opening tournament earlier this spring. The Hawkeyes fired an 877 (+13) to establish a new 54-hole school record at the Westbrook Invitational on Feb. 23-24. The junior’s three-round total of 216 ranked third among Iowa’s all-time best performances.

Phillips finished 31st at the 2013 Big Ten Championships, marking the best finish among Iowa’s returnees this year.

“Confidence is going to be huge this week,” said Phillips. “I want to believe in myself and shoot some good scores.”

Iowa got a taste of Big Ten competition at last weekend’s Lady Buckeye Invitational, finishing eighth in a field of 12 teams, ahead of Nebraska and Indiana.

“The Lady Buckeye was a good source of confidence for us,” said Menzel. “We have been close all spring to knocking off some teams, and it makes you feel good. It will be competitive this week.”

“We are excited heading into Big Ten’s,” said senior Karly Grouwinkel. “We didn’t finish how we wanted to at Ohio State, but we bolstered our confidence heading into this weekend.”

BTN will provide tape-delayed coverage of the Big Ten Women’s Golf Championships on Wednesday, May 7 at 6 p.m. (CT).