It was a year of rough beginnings for head golf coach Greg Sigler. Not just for the men's team, but the women's team as well.
"We got off to a bit of a rough start at the beginning of the year, not to mention Ryleigh (Erickson) was out for the fall as well which didn't help the team. The NCAA Preview in Houston hurt, the tournament rained out and we finished last in a very competitive field," recalls Sigler.
However, the positive nature of the Pirates helped them bounce back after their dim performance in Houston. At the Alamo City Classic in October the team was able to secure third place with a solid first round of 317 but weren't quite able to maintain their consistency, following with a 327.
Madison Miller shot two rounds in the 70s and with their finish in San Antonio and the women gained a little bit of positive momentum heading into the competitive field of the GolfWeek invitational.
To highlight how talented the field was, twelve teams went on to finish in the top 25 at the end of the year including three top-five finishers and Emory University, the would-be national champions.
The Pirates would go on to finish well at the GolfWeek Invitational. The team finished in twelfth place, just outside of the top half of the field and in a consistent fashion with scores of 315, 312, and 316. Linsey Garza finished tied for 18th firing an impressive three rounds in the 70s.
"You want to be in the top half of that field to move up in the national rankings, but all things considered it was a good result given the fall that we had," said Sigler.
Early on in the season, the Pirates showed the individual capability to produce low scores and good results, but just couldn't quite string it together as a team, if a few scored well the others might fall off. Even though the scores didn't show at times, Sigler was preparing the team for harder tests down the road.
When asked how he prepares his team for the pressure of the upcoming tournaments Sigler prefers to add the competition of qualifying to simulate the demands of tournament golf.
"When the players have to qualify to be in the lineup for that tournament it gets them used to performing under pressure; to have the chance to represent your team you have to play well," explains Sigler.
With the added pressure outside of the tournament rounds, the play of the Southwestern Women's golf team excelled in the second half of the season. While it may not have paid off in the fall, the team was well prepared for the upcoming challenges of the spring.
"Once the spring hit, Ryleigh came back, we had the full team and things got better from there on. Everyone felt more comfortable with the demands after the fall," says Sigler.
In their first tournament back in three and a half months, the women ground out a tough one at the Schreiner Shootout in Kerrville, Texas. What was a mild-weather March practice round on Sunday turned into a cutting cold wind for the first round on Monday.
The round was lengthy, but the Southwestern women stuck it out in tenacious fashion. The beginning of the tournament was all about staying patient and keeping the ball on the course, scores were going to be high in the conditions but it was important for the team to stay close together. The Pirates did just that, with four of their players sitting in the top 15 at the end of round one, including Madison Miller at the top of the leaderboard with a round of 81.
On the second day, conditions were tolerable and scores improved drastically for the Pirates, showing their resilience and their competitiveness in going out and firing strong rounds after a brutal first day.
Ryleigh Erickson, in her first tournament back after missing the entirety of the fall, shot 82, improving her score by seven strokes from the previous day.
The team's strong effort earned them a second-place finish in the Schreiner Shootout, improving by 18 strokes from the first round of 349 to 331. Four players placed in the top 15. Miller, gutting out two exceptional rounds of play, finished in solo second place.
The performance in Kerrville set the stage for what would be an impressive string of tournaments for the Pirates in the spring. The women went on to finish just outside of the top half of the Jekyll Island Collegiate, one of the most competitive tournaments in the nation during the spring season.
The Pirates' effort at Jekyll and Kerrville propelled them into the top 25 in the nation, being ranked 24 in the WGCA rankings and number 25 by GolfStat.
With the team's confidence high and the spring season in full swing, the Pirates cruised into the Linda Lowery Invitational with big expectations. Grey Rock Golf Club, the site of the Linda Lowery, took place just south of Austin, right in Southwestern's back yard and the opportunity was there for another good result.
The women took full advantage of what was essentially a home tournament. The team was a model of consistency throughout. Looking at the scorecards was a thing of beauty, everyone shot between 86 and 84 in the final round.
The Pirates' stability throughout the tournament earned them a second-place finish at the Linda Lowery including Katherine Montgomery earning SCAC Player of the Week honors for her finish tied for 7th.
Southwestern would have one more tournament before heading into the SCAC Championships, the West Region Invitational, held at their home course at Berry Creek Country Club.
While the team finished third out of four teams at the West Region, it wasn't a defeat by any means. As a team, Southwestern scored low all week with only one stroke behind second place. Isabel Montelongo, Garza, and Miller all shot in the low 80s throughout the tournament including a 79 for Miller.
Erickson went on to earn SCAC Player of the Week, attacking her home course for scores of 79, and 77, a second straight conference player of the week award for Southwestern. It was apparent the Pirates had grown their confidence and hit their stride going into the SCAC Tournament.
Vaaler Creek Golf Club in Blanco, Texas, the site of the conference tournament, provided a unique challenge for the team, although the course was shorter than others, to play well required accuracy off the tee and precision to hit the high or low elevated greens provided by the Texas hill country.
The first round proved tough for the field, low scores were few and far between, but the Pirates maintained their poise throughout, finding themselves five shots behind the leader Trinity University and tied for second by the end of day one. Garza, Montelongo, and Montgomery secured three top ten places for the Pirates, each of them deliberately managing the course.
Southwestern was unable to close the gap to Trinity despite improving their team score by five strokes in the final round. The Pirates would conclude their season with a hard-earned runner-up finish at the SCAC Championships. Montelongo, Erickson, and Garza earned All-SCAC honors with their play in the tournament.
Improvement was the mantra of the season and will continue to be something Coach Sigler harps on his team going forward.
"I think we struggled from 120 yards and in, so we will need to get better in that area, as always I want better club head speed and more distance, but the short game is where I want to see the most improvement," says Sigler. "I also want them playing in tournaments when they can to maintain that competitiveness we had in the season".
Even as Sigler wants to see improvement to get his team into national contention and move up in the rankings, he will have a lot to be excited about heading into next season. The team will have four seniors including five current and former All-SCAC players returning next season. Regardless of all the talent returning, the culture of the group Sigler has coming back is what he is most looking forward to.
"The culture was really good this year, there was a lot of friendly competition and overall chemistry with the team. They all love working hard, having fun, and being around each other, it makes for a really good experience. We've got a competitive schedule again at the start of next season, we are going to get a good gauge of where we are at early on but there is definitely a lot of excitement for next year".