In the words of head coach David Arseneault, the women’s golf team this year is short on numbers, but long on talent. The team this year consists of only five players: Emily Adam ’17, Kayleigh Kresse ’15, co-captain Alex Plemmons ’15, co-captain Stephanie Spahr ’14 and Hailey Speck ’15. The players have all posted good scores since the season’s beginning.
“If all four of our top players play to their standard, we will win at Conference this weekend,” Arseneault said. “That’s a lot to ask as we are going to be facing a tough course and at least two other teams who have more margin for error. Our conference allows you to play six players and score the top four, so teams with a full complement of players can more easily cover for a player having a bad round.”
The team has had four meets so far this year, most recently at home, at the Grinnell Golf and Country Club. In this meet, the team placed fifth overall out of six teams, but Kresse performed well, tying for the 13th best individual score.
So far the season has shown strong individual performances for the golfers.
Plemmons was named the Midwest Conference Women’s Golf Performer of the Week at the beginning of September, after she scored a personal-best round of 79 on the second day of the Mount Mercy Fall Invitational. She finished 12th out of over 100 golfers—Grinnell as a team finished sixth out of 19.
“Our competitors this year have been really good, but we’ve played well,” Plemmons said. “As a whole I’d say everyone on the team has been scoring a little higher since last year.”
The team makeup has changed since last year. With only five players, the team has just enough to enter competitions. According to Speck, though, the low numbers can be an advantage.
“In terms of team chemistry, having fewer plays can make things easier,” Speck said. “You get to spend a lot of time with your teammates. We’re all really good friends. We’re all in similar classes. So even outside of golf we do things together, like studying. In that sense having a small team for us isn’t a bad thing.”
The team has been practicing since before the academic school year started. During practices, which take place Monday through Friday, the team addresses any issues that came up in previous meets.
“We’ve all been working on aspects of the game that we most want to improve on,” Speck said. “For me personally, I’ve been looking to work on my chipping and short game.”
This week’s meet is the Midwest Conference Tourney and will be at the Aldeen Golf Club in Rockford, Ill.
“It’ll be a tough conference,” Plemmons said. “But we have a good chance of winning. We’ll have to play well for three days.”
