The Portland State University women’s golf team, which has struggled to meet its preseason expectations, will attempt to right the ship at the Fresno State Lexus Classic this weekend.
PSU’s squad is coming off a conference title in 2010–11, and coach Kathleen Takaishi expected more of the same in 2011–12 despite having a relatively inexperienced roster. Thus far, however, things have not gone quite as hoped.
In their first tournament of the season, the Circling Raven Collegiate Invitational in September 2011, PSU finished tied for second among 22 teams. Since then, they have ended up in the lower half of the standings in all five of their competitions, and are coming off an 11th place finish out of 12 teams in the Peg Barnard Invitational in February.
“I think our biggest challenge is not to dwell on the past,” Takaishi said. “We need to learn from our past performances and move on.”
Despite the team’s early struggles, the players are not losing hope and are confident that they will be able to turn their season around.
“We’ve had a slow start to the spring season,” junior and breakout player Britney Yada said. “However, we have been practicing very hard, rain or shine, and I think we are prepared to have a good finish.”
Yada, who leads the team with an average score of 77.29 and was named Big Sky Conference Golfer of the Week for Feb. 8, stressed the importance of establishing a positive team attitude, beginning at the Fresno State Lexus Classic.
“I think that this team just needs to start building the mentality that we are capable of winning,” Yada said. “If we can finish strong at Fresno State, I think it will really help in creating momentum leading up to the Big Sky Conference Championship in April.”
Takaishi echoed these sentiments, stating that the team’s underperformance is not indicative of the talent level of the roster.
“We are definitely better than how we have played,” Takaishi said. “I hope my team continues to learn from their mistakes. I stress this after every round, so we aren’t making the same mistakes over and over.”
Still, the team’s rocky start has created a heightened sense of urgency, and Yada knows that the team’s inexperience may present an obstacle on the path to success.
“I think one of our toughest challenges is that we are a fairly young team, and gaining experience is key,” Yada said. “As we play and compete more and more, it will help in building that momentum and confidence we need.”
Yada still likes her team’s chances in the upcoming tournament, believing that a top-three finish is likely and would greatly boost player confidence. Likewise, her coach expressed optimism regarding her expectations of the team, both for the Fresno State Lexus Classic and for the rest of the season.
“I think we are improving. We have had a couple of weeks to work on some things. I think we will be ready to compete next week. We have a good opportunity to do well,” Takaishi said.
The tournament will take place March 12 and 13 at Copper River Country Club in Fresno, Calif. PSU will compete with 11 other teams. Montana and Sacramento State are the two other teams to keep an eye on, as they are Big Sky Conference rivals with the Vikings.
PSU students who wish to follow the action this weekend can do so live via golfstat.com and can catch the results via the women’s golf link found at goviks.com.