Monday, August 13, 2007
Despite the loss of Amanda Costner, this past season’s Big 12 individual champion and Big 12 Female Sportsperson of the Year, the Kansas women’s golf team has used a productive summer to continue building on the improvement shown by last year’s squad.
Sophomore Meghan Gockel competed alongside Costner in the U.S. Women’s Golf Amateur. Although she did not qualify for group play, Gockel said playing with some of the best players in the country was an incredible opportunity and would provide valuable experience for the upcoming season.
“I’m just going to come back with that much more experience after playing in a tournament like this,” Gockel said. “Being able to compete against the best amateur players in the country was a great experience. It shows me where I need to continue to improve to compete with them.”
Gockel is not the only Kansas woman competing in a variety of events this summer. Senior Annie Giangrosso and sophomore Emily Powers competed in the U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links Championship. Giangrosso narrowly missed out on advancing to match play while Powers advanced to the second round before being eliminated.
Sophomores Sydney Wilson and Alyssa Rainbolt were also busy competing in the Kansas Women’s Golf Amateur Championship. Wilson finished fifth and Rainbolt ninth, continuing the success of Kansas golfers at the event after Giangrosso won the previous year’s championship.
Coach Erin O’Neil said the experience her team had gained competing against top competition during the summer would prove invaluable as the season progresses.
“It helps them improve their game through competition,” O’Neil said. “It just makes them that much stronger when they come back in the fall to compete for Kansas. They learn a lot, and it’s good for them to play different courses and top players.”
Although the team lost a record-setting performer in Costner, O’Neil said her team could continue to improve. Although the team will be young, with eight of eleven players being either sophomores or freshmen, O’Neil said the team would look to Costner’s example to build on last season’s performances.
“Amanda has left some big shoes to fill, but at the same time she helped set a higher standard for us, and I think it’s kind of an inspiration for the other girls,” she said. “We will miss her but at the same time I think we will be able to learn from her and continue to build on that.”
The team will begin competition by traveling to Lincoln, Neb., on Sept. 10 and 11 to compete in the Chip-N-Club Invitational. They will follow that by competing in the Ron Moore Intercollegiate the following weekend in Denver.
Despite the team’s youth and the loss of Costner, O’Neil said, they would look to improve and build for the future.
“My main goal is to take it one day at a time, give it our best each day and see where the chips fall at the end of the year,” O’Neil said. “We want to just try and learn as must as we can from each day we are out there.”
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