Coming off its first win of MIAA conference play this fall, Saint Mary's will go into the final two rounds of MIAA play looking to move up the leaderboard and make a run at first place in the fall conference standings at the End of Season Jamboree.
The MIAA End of Season Jamboree is held at Bedford Valley Golf Club in Augusta, Mich. Belles coach Mark Hamilton said the location will give Saint Mary's a chance to perform well, as some of the more experienced golfers will be able to provide leadership for the golfers that have not seen the course before.
"We play this course every year to wrap up the fall season, and two of the players in the top five have played it in the past so this will give us some experience going in to Friday's competition," Hamilton said. "The course is straightforward and very fair."
The Belles have the luxury of a full week of practice without any competitions interrupting the middle of their week. This has allowed the Belles to improve their overall games and tailor their practice to the course.
"Bedford has big greens sloping from back to front," Hamilton said. "And so we have been practicing longer chip shots and downhill putts. We have not been wavering too much from what we have been doing all season."
The Belles currently stand in third place in the MIAA, but are within striking distance of second-place Hope and first-place Olivet. Last Saturday, Saint Mary's won the fourth round of conference play and put itself in striking distance of its competitors. Hamilton said as the Belles begin to hit their stride at the end of the season, they have positioned themselves well to close in on the two teams ahead of them.
"We definitely want to get ahead of Hope, and also make a push for first place," Hamilton said. "Olivet has shown they are vulnerable and we are playing well at the right time. We will go down swinging."
The Belles will wrap up their fall golf schedule this Friday with the first golfers teeing off at 1 p.m. at Bedford Valley Golf Club in Augusta, Mich.
Contact Brendan Bell at
bbell2@nd.edu
