By Brian Farrell, QBSN Staff Writer
Last week the Bobcats finished eighth in the ECAC Championships at the Twisted Dune Golf Course. Head coach John O’Connor said after day one that the course is the hardest that the Bobcats will play on all season.
“We were very upbeat after the first round,” O’Connor said. “But the course was so difficult that if you are just off the fairway it can cost you a lot of strokes.”
The Twisted Dune Golf Course is unlike most courses that QU will play on this season. Outside the fairway there are more than 100 deep traps and bunkers. The landscape is full of heavy fescue that can ruin a hole and even an entire round.
“When you play a course like this, it teaches you to focus on hitting your target and it teaches you to attempt to be more accurate,” O’Connor said. “The more accurate we can all be on a regular basis, the better off our games will be.”
“I do the best I can to get them to play the toughest courses and the toughest situations they can play,” O’Connor said.
The team’s poor play on day two of the ECAC Championships highlighted a number of issues that O’Connor still wants to work on.
“The short game is always an issue,” O’Connor said. “So we practice from a 150 yards in, and putting is always something that we seem to be working on. Our goal is 29 to 30 putts per round and we consistently have been showing 32, 33, and 34 putts.”
While the team struggled on the difficult course, freshman Jenn Whaley (Farmington, Conn.) continued her consistent play.
“She has all of her of her pre-shot routines down,” O’Connor said. “She sets the tee in the ground, sets up her ball the same way, stands behind the ball, looks at her shot, pictures her shot every time she steps up to the ball.”
“Once that becomes a habit you have less things to think about. She’s just got a great routine to play great golf.”
The Bobcats have just a little under a month left in their fall season and are continuing to mix up their weekly lineup. After missing the last two tournaments, Hannah Russell (Monson, Mass.) will be back on the course this weekend at Rutgers.
“Hannah really came through for us last year in the conference tournament by shooting in the low 80s,” O’Connor said. “I fully expect her to be shooting in the low 80s this weekend. It is a great course for her if we can keep her in the fairway and focused.”
The Rutgers Invitational will also be a great chance for the Bobcats to see the rest of the NEC competition. Nine of the 21 teams competing this weekend are Northeast Conference rivals.
Quinnipiac will tee off at 9 a.m. tomorrow and at 9 a.m. on Saturday.
