After facing a few mid-season hiccups, the women’s golf team found their footing and is starting to string a few impressive showings together. Loras is currently in fourth, out of nine teams, in the first two rounds of the Iowa Conference championship tournament.

Coming off a second-place finish last week may have struck a match under the Duhawks, giving them hope for a deep tournament run.

“I think last week was important. It was the first time all season we played with a lead, and even though we ended up giving up the lead on the second day, you learn a lot just by being in that environment,” said Coach Jeremy Hawkins. “I think that really helped us this week and should help us next week as well.”

That experience, coupled with the favorable course for the women, made for a good first two rounds.

After competing on courses that were totally new to them, it was a nice change of scenery to play on a course that fit their gameplans better.

Junior Abby Potts is in fourth place, individually, after carding rounds of 79 and 81.

First-year Lauren Gonner is currently tied 15th with rounds of 83 and 88, sophomore Kathryn Belanger 89 and 85, Shayna Siegert 91 and 92, and rounded out with junior Christina Jackson scoring a 97 and 87 through their first two rounds.

“This weekend is the type of play we have been looking for,” said Hawkins. “The golf course really suited our style of play, and our ladies took advantage of that.”

Looking back to last season the team was very similar to where they are now; the difference now, however, is that they have improved their overall team score from last year.

Their end of the year play and performances were very similar to this year because they had their middle slump, but when it came down to the tournaments that counted they were pulling out great scores just as they are now.

“I think we have slowly gotten better (as we should),” said Hawkins. “We are still a young team, and I look for us to only continue to get better.”

After another great performance in the first two rounds by the top five consisting of Potts, Jackson, Gonner, Belanger and Siegert, the team looks to complete the season on a high note by finishing off the conference tournament finishing in that top four range.

This means they will have to maintain their play from this past weekend.

“I was most pleased by two things: First, Abby Potts played very well on Friday and Saturday, and didn’t let her good round ‘get in the way,’” said Hawkins. “A lot of times, you can be playing great, start thinking about how great you’re playing, and then everything falls apart. She did a good job of staying in the present and finishing her round.”

“Second, the middle of the lineup played well this weekend. Lauren Gonner had a great Friday, and Christina Jackson had a great Saturday. Both Kathryn Belanger and Shayna Siegert played very steady. Katheryn really helped us out with a good score on Saturday.”

After last week’s difficult week of golf, the women’s team was able to turn their disappointing loss into a very encouraging showing at the Loras Fall Invitational held at the Thunder Hills CC last Friday.

The most notable performance came from junior Abby Potts, who shot 175 over 36 holes. That was good enough for a share of first place.

Potts would go on to win the outright first-place position by winning the first hole of the playoff.

“Abby Potts had a nice weekend,” said Coach Jeremy Hawkins. “It is difficult to play with the lead, or to be near the lead, and that experience will only help her as we continue on to conference play. I would expect her to be an All-Conference selection by the end of the season.”

A couple of other notable performances came from sophomore Kathryn Belanger and first-year Lauren Gonner. Belanger shot a 187, which earned her an eighth-place individual finish, and Gonner shot a 190, good for a tie for 12th place.

“Lauren has been a nice addition to our team,” said Hawkins. “She is very athletic, and I look for her to only improve as she continues her playing career. She makes us deeper as a squad, and certainly gives us a chance to  improve our team score.”

The team was good enough to earn second place out of four teams, trailing only Elmhurst.

A rather impressive showing for the team and an important rung on the ladder to the top, Hawkins said.

“We are slowly improving; our team scores compared to last season are much better,” he said. “I still feel we are not playing to our potential, and hopefully we can get it together for our upcoming conference tournament.”

The men also had their struggles as of recently, but Hawkins says his team has a bright future.

“We need to continue to work on ‘grinding out’ a good score out of a bad round,” said Hawkins. “We have had lots of good starts to rounds, only to worry about posting a good score and then make mistakes.”

Hawkins is eager to see both teams reach their full potential, which has been elusive so far. But he believes the best is yet to come.

After having a week off from the competition, the men’s team hit the course this past weekend looking to pick up where they left off.

With two weeks of practice in between their meets, they hoped to show improvement, but the practice was not quite enough.

The men finished 10th out of 12 teams at the Clarke University Fall Classic.

“We are not playing anywhere near our potential,” said Coach Jeremy Hawkins. “And we need to figure out a way to do that.”

As the men search for their full potential, the women also are seeking to improve while playing on courses that they have never seen before, putting them at a clear disadvantage.

“The women are continuing to work on getting used to playing courses they haven’t seen before,” said Hawkins. “So far this year we have only played one golf course that we competed on last year.  Lauren Gonner, who is a freshman, is obviously playing all of these courses for the first time.”

The difficulty of playing on a course they had never played on before set the women back a bit, resulting in a finish of 18th out of 20 teams.

Luckily, after looking back at scores from last year, they have been doing better as an overall team.

“In comparing to scores to last year, we are better as a team,” said Hawkins. “Unfortunately for us, our competition, especially in conference, is also getting better.”

Speaking of getting better, the men’s team is also looking to improve over this next week, and quickly too.

With just this week of practice before they hit the greens again, they will have to be at their best to make a quick turnaround possible.

Fortunately for them, Coach Hawkins knows exactly where they need to start at.

“We need to really work on our short game, especially putting,” said Hawkins. “We also need to keep our mistakes to a minimum.”

This will be one of their primary focuses for this week as they begin preparing for the next meet which will be held Sunday the 25th and Monday the 26th by the University of Dubuque.

After coming off of this tough showing, the men’s team will be looking to show their true skill and prove themselves as one of the top teams in the conference.

Meanwhile, the women will be hosting an invitational this weekend at Thunder Hills Country Club in Peosta. The meet will help in the Iowa Conference Championships.

After last week’s meet at Buena Vista was cut short by the large amounts of rain, the women were ready to take the course at Wartburg.

In fact, they were even more confident after they had a very solid showing for their first round.

“We were a little bummed out that the round got canceled last weekend,” said junior Abby Potts. “Because it seemed like everyone was playing well.”

The Duhawks placed 16th of the 20 teams at the Fall Invite with a four shot improvement from the first day on the final round.

The women were excited about the improvement they made from last year.

They already know what they need to do to improve for the rest of the season which puts them one step ahead of the competition already.

“We all have the ability to perform well and exceed our expectations,” said Potts. “A good week of practice will be the best way to prepare for the Midwest Classic.”

Potts led the way for the women, shooting a 24 over par followed by junior Christina Jackson who shot a 37 over par.

The scores were good for a share of 30th and 59th place, respectively, for the weekend.

The women were right with everyone in what appeared to be a very close race for first. In fact there was only a 33 point difference between 6 places and only 8 points separating the top five teams from that prized first place spot.

“I am so proud of my teammates,” said Potts. “We are still a young team, and the improvement we have made from last year has been outstanding. I cannot wait to see what is in store for us.”

Along with Potts and Jackson’s impressive score, the team was able to put up a pretty impressive score line with sophomore Kathryn Belanger shooting a 40 over par, sophomore Megan Gregg shooting a 45 over par, and freshman Lauren Gonner shooting a 50 over par.

“This weekend we are playing a course unfamiliar to all of us,” said Potts. “All we can do is go into this weekend with positive attitudes and confidence in our game.

Not knowing the course they will be playing on is a disadvantage, but with enthusiasm and the ability to improve, the team is well on their way to another successful year in the conference.

The women have been able to maintain and even improve upon some of the scores from last week which is what they will want to see more of this weekend at the Division III Midwest Classic hosted by UW-River Falls that will take place Saturday and Sunday.

Hot off of last year’s impressive finish, the men’s and women’s golf teams are hitting the course as much as possible to get them ready for the upcoming season.

“We are mainly trying to get on the course as much as possible to just play,” said coach Jeremy Hawkins. “We are also going to the driving range just a bit to work towards a more consistent game.”

The women who are coming off of a fourth place finish at the Iowa Conference golf championship last October are looking to grow even more as a collective bunch. The men had an equally impressive finish with a third place finish at the Iowa Conference championship.

“I expect our women’s team to go above and beyond what we did last year,” said coach Hawkins. “With a few new additions to the team we will be able to do just that.”

First-years Lauren Gonner and Alicia Ney are two new faces to the program for coach Hawkins.

“This year will be a year for them to learn a bit about the program,” said coach Hawkins. “After that they will fit in just fine.”

Most of the women’s team from last season is back and looking to improve on their success from last season. In their tournament on Friday, September 2nd the team posted a score of 367, +79 overall which placed them eighth of eleven teams in the first action of the year.

Due to inclement weather the second round on Saturday was cancelled leaving the team with skewed results do to only one day of action.

Junior Abby Potts scored the best for the team with a +15, which put her tied for 11th with many other golfers on the day. Fellow junior teammate Christina Jackson followed Potts with a +19, placing her tied for 25th.

The situation for the men follows mostly along the same line as the women’s team. They are returning nearly their entire team and have added some new members.

They will be led by senior Aaron Dunn, junior Sam Herrmann, second year Bubba Carter, junior Matt Hillard and first-year Drew Massey.

“Herrmann has had two solid seasons under his belt and will most likely be an important leader of this team,” said coach Hawkins. “He will be assisted by many of his teammates.”

With many returning veteran golfers, the men are looking to make a good run at an even better finish in the championships this year.

“Last year we were able to peak at just the right time,” said coach Hawkins. “We hope to keep that same kind of success going into this year.”

High expectations and a great start to the season makes for what could be an exciting season for both teams as the men gear up for their official season in the spring and the women continue their season this weekend at the Wartburg invitational.

The men’s golf team entered the final two rounds of the Iowa Conference Championships in second place, and it finished the 72-hole tournament just two strokes behind the runner-up, the University of Dubuque.

Despite the small slip in the final two rounds of the tournament, Coach Jeremy Hawkins was pleased with his team.

“I am pretty pleased finishing in third place,” he said. “We started the tournament seeded seventh or eighth. Third sounds a lot better to me.”

The Duhawks earned two all-conference spots in the top-ten for the tournament as sophomore Sam Herrmann and senior Joe Leibfried placed third and fourth, respectively, overall as individuals. Herrmann led the tournament field by three strokes coming into the final two rounds of play after shooting identical rounds of 73 during the first 36-holes.

Herrmann shot an 81 and 79 in the final two rounds to close out his tournament play, putting him at +18 over for the tournament, which was good enough for a third-place finish.

“I got third this year, which is good, but I’m still not satisfied. My individual goal is to win conference,” said Herrmann. “The hardest thing to deal with is having the lead halfway through and not being able to hold onto it throughout the weekend.”

Leibfried entered the tournament 6th place overall and shot rounds of 74 and 83 on the final two days to earn a fourth-place finish on the leaderboard.

“Sam and Joe both had great tournaments as a whole. Unfortunately, they each had one bad day this weekend, where things were a little off,” said Hawkins. “It cost them both a chance at being player of the year, but to have them finish in third and fourth as individuals is really a great thing.”

Senior Noel Frideres shot identical final round scores of 79 to earn a three-way tie for a 15th place finish overall finishing the tournament at 32-over- par.

First-year Bubba Carter rounded out the scoring for the Duhawks shooting a 76 on the final 18 holes of the tournament to push his way up to a 29th-place overall finish with a score of 39-over-par.

“Overall, I am really proud of our guys. Noel Frideres played really steady golf for us, and Bubba Carter really kept us in it the last day with a good score,” Hawkins said. “This team did a great job staying competitive and grinding out scores all year.”

Central College won by a margin of 24 strokes while adding another Iowa Conference title to its belt. Cross-town rival University of Dubuque, edged Loras by two strokes to take a second place finish away.

“Throughout the weekend, we played well compared to the other teams,” said Herrmann. “Central just jumped out too far ahead of the field in the first weekend for anyone to track them down.”

The Duhawks will be graduating four seniors from this year’s team in Kyle Domeyer, Andrew Schroeder, Leibfried and Frideres.

“Our third-place finish is really the end for this group of guys,” said Hawkins. “Next fall we will have to start all over again and work really hard to repeat what we accomplished this season.”

The men’s golf teams competed in the first two rounds of the Iowa Conference Championships at Buena Vista on Saturday and Sunday, currently holding the number two position on the team leader board.

Sophomore Sam Herrmann sits atop the leaderboard at +2 for the tournament after shooting two identical rounds of 73 over the weekend. The 2-over finish put Herrmann three strokes ahead of the rest of the competition with the final two rounds to be played on the 29^th at Finkbine Golf Course, a different location than the first two rounds which were held at Lake Creek Country Club.

Not far behind Herrmann is senior teammate Joe Leibfried, who shot a 9-over, good enough for a tie at 6^th place among all competitors. Senior Noel Frideres carded the next best finish for the Duhawks, shooting +18 tied for 24^th place. Freshman Bubba Carter finished one stroke behind Frideres, carding a +19 over the two rounds. Senior Kyle Domeyer rounded out the scoring for the Duhawks with a 29-over par.

The first two rounds of the tournament were played at the same course that the Duhawks competed at a week ago where they shot a 66-over par as a team.

“I think we did a much better job of staying in the present, especially on Sunday,” said coach Jeremy Hawkins. “It also helps that we did just play the course recently, so our guys knew what to expect.”

The impressive score by Herrmann secure the Duhawks the second place position after the first two rounds, but still trail Central College by 22 strokes who shot an impressive 26-over par as a team to take a commanding lead over the competition.

“My expectations for rounds 3 and 4 are to continue to improve our scoring.  The five guys we have in the lineup right now understand the importance of not getting ahead of themselves and focusing on the shot they are trying to hit at the moment,” said Hawkins. “In order for us to make a push for 1st, we are going to have to play fantastic golf especially in the back of our line up. Our 3, 4 and 5 players will have to play their best golf of their careers, and Sam and Joe will have to play to the best of their abilities as well. We will also need Central to struggle a bit. The closer we can be after the third day the better.”

The men’s golf team competed in their second tournament of the spring last Friday and Saturday, placing 15th in the 25-team field.

The meet was held at the Lake Creek Country Club in Storm Lake, Iowa, which also happens to be this week’s location for the first and second rounds of the Iowa Conference Championships, where the Duhawks will be hoping to extend their season with a strong showing.

Sophomore Sam Herrmann was the only Loras golfer to card a sub-80 round on either day. Herrmann shot a 77 and a 76 to finish at +9 for the tournament and good enough for an 18th-place finish overall.

“I was striking the ball well, but when I got on the greens I had some issues. I feel my score was alright at best. It definitely could’ve been lower but I just need to keep working hard,” said Herrmann. “The team as a whole did not play well in the slightest, but this meet doesn’t mean anything. I much rather us go out and play our best golf in the comng weekends, like our conference tourney, than playing out best gold when it doesn’t matter.”

First-year Bubba Carter brought in the second-best finish for the Duhawks, shooting identical rounds of 80 to finish the tournament at +16.

Senior Joe Leibfried who placed 8th overall at the Loras Invitational last week shot 20 over to tie for 78th place overall.

“As a team we really didn’t excel at anything. Sam Herrmann had a nice weekend, but the rest of our team struggled,” said coach Jeremy Hawkins. “We basically had an off-weekend where we couldn’t really get anything going.”

Senior Andrew Schroeder and first-year James Komorowski rounded out the scoring for the Duhawks, finishing +15 and +28, respectively, for the tournament, bringing the team score to a total of 626 strokes. The +66 finish was good enough for a 15th place overall team finish in the tournament.

Unlike last weekend, the players did not have to deal with outrageous weather conditions, and Coach Hawkins believes the high scores are the fault of mental errors.

“We ran into some high wind on Friday, but so did the rest of the field,” said Hawkins. “Saturday was a disappointment.  The weather was better and we ended up scoring worse. We need to continue to work on finishing out our rounds. We need to work on staying in  the moment and not thinking about the end result before we finish our rounds.”

With the conference championships being held at the same course this weekend, the Duhawks are able to ensure there will be no surprises. They can use the course to familiarize themselves so they can make transitions come championship time.

“What we take away from this week is an idea of what we need to do to be successful.  We need to stay in the moment and not get ahead of ourselves,” said Hawkins. “Three of our guys had never seen the golf course before, so it was a learning experience for them. I look for much better scores this weekend.”

The golfers will aim for better results this weekend as they return to Buena Vista for rounds one and two of the conference tournament.

The men’s golf team hosted 12 teams during its annual Spring Invitational this past weekend.

Senior Joe Leibfried led the way for the Duhawks, shooting +9 for the tournament and placing eighth overall among 71 players. Leibfried shot identical rounds of 76 in the two-day tournament to earn the top 10 finish.

Senior Noel Frideres was the only other Duhawk to post two rounds of scores in the 70s, shooting a 77 and 78 to finish +12, which was good for a tie for 15th place overall.

First-year Bubba Carter shot 78 and 80, and sophomore Sam Herrmann carded rounds of 78 and 82 to round out the scoring for the Duhawks, who shot +62 as a team.

“This was our first tournament of the season, and it gave us a good idea of where we are right now,” said coach Jeremy Hawkins. “I think it is very obvious to the guys what they will need to work on in order to be successful, and we will continue to work on those aspects and work hard on getting better.”

The top four golfers for Loras shot 78 or better on Sunday at The Meadows; but they struggled with strong winds and chilly temperatures Monday at Thunder Hills Golf Course in Peosta.

The adverse conditions had an adverse effect on the Duhawks’ second-round scores.

“The conditions were difficult, but they were difficult for the entire field.  We needed to do a better job of using our knowledge of our home course to our advantage,” said Hawkins. “The team needs to continue to accept a bad hole and then forget it. We have a very hard time not letting one or two bad holes ruin their round for the day.”

Iowa Conference foe Central won the invitational with a team score of +26.

The Duhawks will travel to Storm Lake, Iowa, to compete in the Buena Vista Spring Invitational next weekend in preparation for the Iowa Conference Tournament, which starts April 15.