Women’s golf looks to take next step in Tempe
WSU plays in second- to-last tourney before Pac-12 Championships
Courtesy of WSU Athletic Communications
Junior Madison Odiorne hits the ball down the fairway as she competes in a tournament earlier this season.
March 23, 2018
WSU women’s golf will head to Tempe, Arizona, to compete against five top-ranked teams and seven other schools in a three-day tournament this weekend.
WSU played in the PING/ASU Invitational in 2016, tying for eighth place. The Arizona State University Karsten Golf Course is a par-72 course, where teams will play 18-hole rounds Friday and Saturday and the third and final round Sunday.
Junior Madison Odiorne said that for the Cougars to continue improving, they need to focus on their mentality. She said the team has everything together, and it just comes down to each player using their own techniques to set the team apart.
“I am somebody who likes to get pumped up on the course,” Odiorne said. “It is really important to be able to get in the zone for the two minutes you are in that shot.”
The Cougars are coming off a sixth-place finish at the Dr. Donnis Thompson Invitational in Hawaii. Head Coach Kelli Kamimura said she was happy with the team’s performance and ability to adjust to the rough conditions.
“They never stopped fighting,” Kamimura said, “and our solid final round helped us climb the leaderboard and finish the tournament strong.”
She said the hard work and perseverance of seniors Alivia Brown and Bree Wanderscheid make them great leaders on and off the course.
Finishing the tournament with an overall score of 227 (+11), Brown just missed the top 10, ending in 11th place.
There are five top-20 teams in the PING/ASU Invitational that will test the Cougars.
The ranked schools are Arizona State University, University of Washington, University of Arizona, Oklahoma State University and University of Colorado.
Odiorne said she thinks this is the year WSU could make it to the postseason, and this tournament could be a measuring stick for the Cougars to see how they compare to tougher competition.
“[Brown], since I’ve been here, has been the only one to make it to postseason, which is great, Odiorne said. “But I think as a team, this is the year we could do that.”
WSU has one more tournament after this weekend before the Pac-12 Championships in late April.
The tournament is set to begin 8 a.m. Friday at Karsten Golf Course in Tempe, Arizona.
