Men’s and Women’s Season Outlook

Head coach Paul Thompson      
 

The Warrior men’s and women’s golf teams played well in the first half of the 2003-2004 season, finishing 2^nd and 3^rd in the Frontier Conference, respectively.  The second half of the season will begin in early February and the Warriors will compete in six tournaments, culminating with the regional tournament that will be played at the University of Idaho.  

     Leading the way for the men’s team was freshman Jeff Smith, as he was second in the conference in scoring average. The Warrior men trailed only Rocky Mountain in the first half and hope to win the Frontier Conference for the second year under Coach Thompson.  “We are a young team, but we feel like we can improve on the good start we had in the first half of the season.  We have a solid group of guys who love to compete and I think that can only make us better.  We have a legitimate shot at winning the conference again this season and having the regional tournament in our backyard could be a big advantage to us,” said Coach Thompson.

     The Warrior women finished third in the first half of the season behind the play of sophomore  NAIA All-American, Ilka Loubser.  She led the conference in scoring average and won two of the three tournaments.  Coach Thompson was pleased with the teams play and said the addition of two players, Kara Palmer (Australia) and Marie Lauder (Canada), will help significantly.  Coach Thompson felt that his team overachieved in the first half of the season and is excited about the second half.  “Our main goal is always to win our conference, but we really want to improve enough to sneak into the top 25 and get an at-large berth to the national tournament.  After the first half, we were ranked 39^th , and we think the addition of Kara and Marie will definitely increase our competition level.”

     The NAIA National Tournament for the men will be held May 18-21, at Prairie Highlands Golf Course in Olathe, Kansas.  The women’s NAIA National Tournament will be May 25-28, at LPGA International Golf Course in Daytona Beach, Florida.