After the final day of the Redbird Invitational, the Ohio women’s golf team had lifted itself from a seventh-place Saturday finish to the sixth overall spot in the tournament.
With a score of 312, Ohio finished behind other Mid-American Conference teams but coach Kelly Ovington said she was happy with the team’s progression throughout the tournament.
“I think it was a good first run out, I saw some very good things. Our stroke average is lower than our average from last year,” Ovington said. “I think we are moving in the right direction. I would say this has been a successful tournament for us.”
Even though Ovington was pleased with the team’s performance, she said there are still kinks to be worked out.
“I think they did a lot of things very well, we need to execute and capitalize on our opportunities while we are given them,” Ovington said.
Ovington said the ability to capitalize on those opportunities will come with time and practice, which is something Ohio has had less of compared to other teams.
“Most of these schools have had a couple weeks together to practice, we just started school,” Ovington said. “The two days we had to practice together were pouring down rain, but they definitely stepped up and showed they worked hard this summer.”
Sophomore Kristen Helmsdoerfer shot a career-best 238 for her three-round total. She said she was pleased with the outcome.
“I am very confident in our team that we will be able to stack up against (the MAC) very well and going forward we are going to take this, learn from our mistakes and then go forward and compete against them at the next tournament,” Helmsdoerfer said.
The Ohio men’s golf team starts its season today when it travels to Huntington, W.Va., to participate in the Marshall Invitational.
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