Belles take third in match
By SARAH RYKOWSKI
Last year Saint Mary's home tournament was cancelled due to bad weather.
This year, wind swept through the course but it couldn't force a repeat cancel.
At their home tournament this Thursday at Brookwood Golf Course, Saint Mary's golf team struggled a bit, shooting a team score of 379, good enough for third place.
"We could have played better," head coach Theresa Pekarek said. "It was windy today and the course played very difficult."
Other schools were also affected by the weather. Alma College won the match with a team score of 362, while Albion College and Hope College tied for second with scores of 377.
Thursday's match put Saint Mary's in third place in the the conference, behind Albion and Alma.
"All of the scores were a lot higher [this week]," junior Natalie Cook said.
Scores at Brookwood this week were up about 50 points compared to the last tournament's scores.
"Everybody struggled today," Pekarek said. "They couldn't get their momentum going."
Three golfers who contributed to the Belles' score were Kara Harms, who shot a 92; Natalie Cook, with a 93; Heather Podraza, who scored a 96; and Mary Claire Hathaway, who shot a 98.
Exhibition golfers for the Belles included captain Kyle Veltri and freshman Rachael Benkert.
"I was very impressed with freshman Kara Harms," Pekarek said.
"I was thrilled with my score," Harms said. "We had the home course advantage, but the wind and greens were real fast."
As for next week, the Belles have a good shot at gaining second place.
"We are only five shots out of second place overall," Pekarek said.
"I'm looking forward to next weekend," said Harms.
The golf team has their next tournament on Sept. 25 at Hope College's Winding Creek Golf Course at 1 p.m.
All Sports Stories for Friday, September 17, 1999
