Women’s golf prepares for Laker Fall Classic at The Meadows

GVL Archive
Sophomore Veronica Ryan lines up her shot during a past match.

GVL Archive Sophomore Veronica Ryan lines up her shot during a past match.

Joe Maher-Edgin

The Grand Valley State University women’s golf team is looking to rebound from a second-round collapse in the Dallas Baptist Classic early this week in preparation for the 14th-annual Laker Fall Classic tournament on Saturday and Sunday.

The two-round tournament, which will host 15 teams from around the region, will be played at The Meadows, GVSU’s home golf course, and will feature teams from around the GLIAC conference. No. 6 Augustana College and No. 14 California University of Pennsylvania are two of the top-ranked teams among the list of non-conference opponents expected to participate this year.

Wet weather from the week, however, could change the course conditions and may have a negative impact on play, said GVSU head coach Rebecca Mailloux.

“We’ve had a decent amount of rain prior to this week so it’s the course isn’t going to play the way it typically does,” she said. “Ideally, The Meadows should play with shots rolling off the tee and bouncing on the green, but with the wet weather today and tomorrow that’s obviously not going to happen.”

The second round will be important in maintaining a good start for the Lakers. Last weekend, GVSU went from shooting a tournament-low team score of 298 to a 327 in the second round, falling from first place after the opening round to a tied fifth-place finish.

“We were disappointed in the team performance, but I think they recognized that everyone has a bad day,” Mailloux said. “I think they’ll rebound from it just fine … It might have been a good, humbling experience for them to take them down off their high for a bit and to get to the basics.”

The final round of the tournament on Sunday will also be important for all the teams to play their best “for a good cause.”

“We are doing a Think Pink event on Sunday, so all the teams will be decorated in pink gear and we’ll have some banners out there as well,” Mailloux said of the pink gear, representing breast cancer awareness.

Mailloux will front the same team of five from last weekend, featuring Sarah Hoffman, Kelly Hartigan, Marni Weinstein, Ashley Beard and Veronica Ryan.

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