Women’s golf finishes out season at MAC preview

By Sean Anderson

NIU women’s golf concluded its fall season with a 10th place finish at the 2012 MAC Preview on Tuesday.

The highlight of the tournament was the play of senior Allie Parthie, who shot a 77 which was good enough to finish tied for fifth.

“I actually played better yesterday,” Parthie said. “I just made a couple more putts today. Overall, I am happy with the tournament that I played. To be able to finish fifth with all the schools that were competing is good and it gives me confidence going into next season, hopefully I will be able to do better going into the MAC Championship.”

Parthie said she wants to work on her short game because it has been the difference in finishing in better places this season.

“This year, I have been struggling with my short putts and I don’t really know why,” Parthie said. “I need to continue to build a solid foundation with my putting.”

As a team, the Huskies shot a 318, which is 11 shots better than they did on day one.

“You always want to look for improvements,” said coach Kim Kester. “We had some of it today to end the fall season out. We ended under 320, which we have been shooting a lot of this year and now we are looking on getting better.”

Parthie hopes that the team can improve before their next season.

“In the spring, I feel as a team we can be more competitive,” Parthie said. “It’s still the first semester with the new coach so everyone is still getting used to the new ways. Everyone is doing well on the transition and we can still improve from here on out.”

Kester is content with the 10th place finish but always wants to earn a victory.

“Obviously, you want to win,” Kester said. “We beat another MAC team, which is good, and we beat a couple of other good teams out there. We are not far off from being in sixth place; it’s a few shots here and there. Each tournament we want to get better and better.”

Ball State won the 2012 Preview with a two-day total of 621 (+45), by three strokes over Bowling Green. For individual play, Meghan Perry of Ball State won by one stroke with a two-day total of 150 (+6). Parthie was just three strokes behind.

Freshmen Connie Ellett finished second for the Huskies, finishing with a two day total of 161, good enough to tie for 32nd.

Her sister, sophomore Taylor Ellett, shot a two day total of 167, which tied her for 63rd.