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SIU faces top talent in Hawaii

When Sophomore Kelly Gerlach was asked what she liked so much about Hawaii, her first response wasn't the scenery, ocean, or even the weather.

"The thing I enjoyed the most was the competition," Gerlach said. "There is not too many times that we get to tee up with the best competition in the country."

The Women's golf team ended their fall season Wednesday at the Kent Youel Classic in Oahu, Hawaii. Competing against teams from the Big Ten, Pac-10 and Big 12, the Salukis were able to size themselves up before ending their fall season.

"It's hard to not be in awe with them," Gerlach said. "It was so great to just compete and measure yourself against them."

The team finished 14th out of 15 teams.

Gerlach (79-81-73-233) finished 42nd followed by freshman Sophomore Christin Zoerlein (79-79-78 -236). Senior Samantha Sutzer placed 57th, while sophomore Josie Lowder finished in 59th. Stephanie Pate rounded out the Salukis in 69th.

Head coach Diane Daugherty said that the first day didn't go as they expected. After completing a solid 13 or 14 hole, Daugherty saw her team struggle and make numerous penalty shots.

"Yesterday the 316 wasn't horrible but the 323 - we were very disappointed in that," Daugherty said. "We knew we could have done better."

With a difficult golf course full of water, sandpits and gusting winds off of the shore the Salukis found themselves making numerous penalty shots on Tuesday's two rounds of golf.

Wednesday proved to be a different story, when the team shot only a total of two penalties for the day.

"We were more familiar with the golf course today and went out with more confidence," Daugherty said.

With the Salukis' ultimate goal of going to the NCAA tournament this spring, the team found the tournament to be very beneficial for the future.

"This was the best competition we are going to face at any point," Daugherty said. "But if we get into the NCAA's teams like UCLA and Arizona State are going to be there.

"We just realized that we could tee up on the same golf course as them and not feel like we don't belong."

Playing next to the top teams in the nation, the Salukis found out that they could compete with the best. After warming up next to the UCLA team Tuesday morning, the team realized that they were not that different to the other teams.

"It's not like they have perfect swings - it's not like their stature is any different," Daugherty said. "They just find a way to get it into the hole."

The first day of competition, Gerlach teed off with a player from UCLA. Ready for some good competition, she found out that she was not head or shoulders above her.

"I hit just as good shots as she did, and we are not that far off," Gerlach said. "It's just a few shots here or there and that's the only difference between us and them."