The Augustana women’s golf team seeks to win their first ever conference title as they participate in the CCIW Championship tournament on Sept., 26.
The season began with back to back first place victories at the Highland Classic and the Monmouth invitational. The Viking women attribute that early success to great team chemistry and competition. The women spent two weeks on campus alone in the beginning of the school year playing golf and developing a dynamic team chemistry.
“It was really awesome to see how they developed through those two weeks and to see our whole team come together as one and take it on the course,” senior captain Melanie Loeffler said. Those two weeks helped establish a competitive culture on the team as well as very high expectations for the season.
With a strong recruiting class to compete with a seasoned returning roster, the women knew that cracking the six man varsity line up would be tough. “We had to fight for our positions”  junior captain Jillian Stone recalled.
Stone recounted how the competition made the team as a whole better and also provided comfort on rainy days. “Knowing that you have your team behind you if you’re not playing well that day, you know that there’s enough girls to step up and give that low round you might not have been able to give that day,” Stone said.
This especially came in handy during the Illinois Wesleyan invitational that took place last week. “We go in order to play against better teams,” captain Jennifer Filotto said.
Despite the stiff competition, the women took seventh place of seventeen teams, exceeding their expectations for the tournament and placing in the top ten for the first time ever. “Seeing the progression of how our team has been and how much we want to win and how much we care about golf is rewarding to see. How well we are doing is just really cool,” Loeffler said.
The women hope to carry this success with them during conference championships this week. According to Coach Tom Lawrence, “We want more” and the way to success is “one step at a time, one shot at a time.”
Filotto echoed her coach’s philosophy. “Every stroke matters, every tournament matters. Golf is a sport where you can literally see how somebody did. You get a number at the end of the day,” Filotto said.
At the end of these three days the women hope to be holding their first ever conference championship banner. “This is the best chance we’ve had to do it,” Lawrence said. According to Lawrence, is just like how you eat an elephant, one piece at a time.
The Championships will be hosted by Carthage College at Brighton Dale Golf Club in Kansasville, Wisconsin. The women will tee off at 8am on Thursday, Sept., 26.