Wednesday, May 7, 2008
The Jayhawks women’s golf team’s season might have ended in disappointment a few weeks ago with a 10th place finish at the Big 12 Tournament, but according to coach Erin O’Neil that doesn’t mean nothing was accomplished. O’Neil is excited for next season because of the young players that have emerged within the last two years, including sophomore Emily Powers, whose season still continues in the NCAA individual Regional the runs May 8th through 10th.
“Really excited for Powers,” O’Neil said. “All I’ve told her is to just stay in the present and she’ll be fine.”
Powers is just one of many reasons for why upcoming seasons could be special ones for the Jayhawks. Powers led the Jayhawks with a 75.53 scoring average. But it isn’t just Powers who has paved the way. Freshmen, Grace Thiry and Meghna Bal, finished close behind Powers with scoring averages of 77.66 and 77.86 respectively. “We’re really young,” O’Neil said. “We just need to learn and build from this season.” Fortunately, the Jayhawks will be losing only one senior to graduation. Unfortunately, that senior is Annie Giangrosso, who has been consistent with her game all year. She had the 5th best scoring average this year at 78.20, which is not far behind Powers, Thiry, and Bal. “Annie left a positive impact on the program,” O’Neil said. “She had a great career here and we’ll miss her.” Giangrosso understands it’s time to move on as well. “It’s bittersweet,” Giangrosso said. “But I’m ready to move on, you can’t play college golf forever.” Hopefully the development of the three young players will help ease the loss of Giangrosso, but her leadership and experience will be missed. The Jayhawks had to tackle some difficult courses this year, especially the final course at the Big 12 Tournament. The 7,095 yd. par 72 Karsten Creek Golf course was trouble for all golfers, not just Jayhawks. “Not very many shot under an 80,” O’Neil said. “It’s one of the courses where double boogies were ok, but we were hitting triple and quad (boogies).”
As far as recruiting goes, O’Neil has taken an international approach. Freshmen Thiry and Bal, along with sophomore Camilla Svensson, all came from overseas. As much as these young players have contributed to the team, O’Neil doesn’t expect the trend to always continue. “Try to get the best players,” O’Neil said. “Whether they’re from the US or not, it doesn’t matter.” As for play on the golf course, many of the Jayhawks, including coach O’Neil, agree that the short game needs to improve and they need to take a shot by shot approach when playing during the longer tournaments. But with Powers, Thiry and Bal leading the way, the foundation has been set for future and more successful seasons.
—Edited by Russell Davies
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