Saint Mary's begins the third of four MIAA jamborees in a two-week span when it tees off today at The Golf Club at Thornapple Pointe in Grand Rapids, Mich.
The Belles took second place in the first two conference competitions, falling to Olivet in both tournaments.
Belles coach Kim Moore said while the Comets are a talented team and will be difficult to overcome in the leaderboard, she believes her squad can close the gap and possibly take first place with improvements in a few areas.
"My goal is to continue to have us play better every tournament," she said. "That's what I'm going to focus on and have our team focus on, trying to eliminate a few strokes here and there, and our team score can go down. We can't control what Olivet does, but I think if we eliminate a few things here and there, we'll be right there and close to where we should normally be."
With four tournaments in less than two weeks, the Belles have not been afforded a normal practice schedule. Moore said her team has responded by making adjustments in its tournament qualifiers, which determine the five golfers that will compete in each competition, and using its trials on the course to improve.
"I think [the Belles] have learned that they've got to utilize those qualifiers as practice as well," she said. "A great way for them to prepare for tournaments is to play more tournaments, and I think they've realized that those qualifiers will be the [next] best thing we have to playing in another tournament."
Based off the results of its most recent qualifier, Saint Mary's will enter the quintet of senior Paige Pollak, junior Janice Heffernan, sophomore Sammie Averill, and freshmen Ali Mahoney and Courtney Carlson today.
The Belles' low scorers in their last three rounds were Averill, Pollak and Heffernan, respectively. Moore said the parity between her golfers shows Saint Mary's depth, which has helped the team throughout the season.
"In team golf, you can't just rely on one person," she said. "One person's score doesn't make a team score. It shows how strong we can be at any given time, since any person can step up and be the leader."
Moore also noted that at least one freshman has competed in each tournament for the Belles, reinforcing Saint Mary's depth for the future.
Currently at the halfway point of their conference schedule, the Belles will start their third jamboree today at 1 p.m. at The Golf Club at Thornapple Pointe in Grand Rapids, Mich.
Contact Mary Green at mgreen8@nd.edu
