Alabama’s Women Golf new season, goals with a Par-tly chance to make it to Nationals as a whole
Duran Golf Course located in Melbourne, Florida (Courtesy of Tee Times USA)
Kenzie Wright during a tournament (Courtesy of Alabama Athletics)
By: Briana Gregory
TUSCALOOSA, Ala.–The University of Alabama’s women golf team ranked No. 9 are swinging into a new season in their upcoming tournament against the No. 37 Louisville Cardinals on February 17. They will be beginning the new season at the Moon Golf Invitational at Duran Golf Course in Melbourne, Florida.
The Ultimate Match Up
The team had a solid performance in the fall ending the year with Kenzie Wright and Angelica Moresco tied for third. The duo fired off a 3-under-par 213 tournament total. This ended their season leading them to finish overall 2-under-par 862.
The Louisville Cardinal’s women golf team finished first in their last tournament with a score of 4-over-par 868 (297-291-280). Sophomore Mairead Martin finished second overall 6-under-par 210 (68-73-69). Freshman Hana Ryskova was 3-under-par that tied her at third in their last tournament.
Their potential win against the Cardinals will grant them the possible win to initiate their season. They would like to start off strong and see what they can accomplish moving forward in various tournaments.
Better Performance, Better Results
The team hopes to develop better results than what they did in the fall because of their numerous second place finishes. The same effort and some fixations can move them from second to first place and lead them down the road to victory and closer to make nationals.
Freshman Caroline Curtis has a record of being a two-time AJGA (American Junior Golf Association) champion before she came to UA. She continues to hold the title and create more by finishing the fall season in her first collegiate top-20 tied at 17th. Curtis highlights the team overall wants to reflect on their performance in the fall to increase their chances to win more tournaments.
“We had a lot of second place finishes, just really close to first place,” Curtis said. “We want to try to build off that. Just keep trying to get better and better.”
Senior Kenzie Wright is a transfer student from Southern Methodist university where she acquired majority of her accolades. In her junior and senior year at UA, Wright has obtained numerous accomplishments especially her current senior year, finishing the fall season 2nd at Ruth Chris Tar Heel Invitational with a 9-under-par 207 (70-69-68). Wright said she would like for not only her but the team to make it to nationals this season.
“I would love for us to do nationals. I personally have never been to national so that’s a huge goal,” Wright said. “I know with our team right now we have a really good chance to do well.”
Love for Golf and One Another
Wright has personal goals despite the goals she desires the team to accomplish. The team’s individual goals go hand in hand with the goals they have for each other. The goals they want for themselves they would like to attain through the tournaments this season.
The team strives daily to practice bettering themselves as an individual athlete and team player for each other because they want the best for one another. Kenzie Wright and Caroline Curtis feel their performance on the course is motivated from how close they are as a team and get to know each other on a personal level. If someone is nervous before or during a tournament then they will take time to give each other pep talks.
“We get along really well and then we’re all super close, so I think that helps a lot,” Wright said. “We really understand each other, and we know what helps each other individually.”
The importance of the tournaments to the players along with the head coach, Mic Potter, is excelling mentally and physically. Luckily, the team has no injuries but only need to consistently improve physically according to their head coach.
“You’re always looking to improve your ranking, so you can get a better seed and the regional,” Potter said. “But to me it’s more a matter of each of our girls building confidence each week.”
Potter said the girls are confident, but not cocky because each of them understand they can always perfect their skills.
“They all know the sky’s the limit,” Potter said.
The team speaks highly of one another and so does Potter as he highlights how the girls learned to re-evaluate their performance after each tournament, humbleness and overall have fun with one another. They have become a family on and off the course.
Sunshine, Breeze and Green
The golf course is surrounded by people who come to support, coaches, team players and competitors with all eyes on the person swinging to hit the golf ball. They pay close attention to see where the ball lands on the green and how close then suddenly an intense feeling occurs. This is the feeling the girls said arises on the course as they play in several tournaments year-round.
The venue the team will be travelling down to at the Duran Golf course features 18 holes and 3-par course. The team looks forward to opening the season with a win and they will not stop nor back down until they are satisfied.
Check out the link below to my game recap podcast of the Moon Golf Invitational for Alabama women’s golf team! Enjoy and provide feedback.
Women Who Swing on the Green
Mic Potter and Junior Polly Mack at a tournament (Courtesy of Twitter)
By: Briana Gregory
TUSCALOOSA, Ala.–Some people would say men dominate sports, but women are the true competitors of sports. Women have more to prove because of the continuous doubts or opinions others have about women in sports. Multiple women in sports continue to beat the odds, do numbers and remain humble.
Golf clubs, umbrellas, tees, towels or push-cart accessories are separated by gender nor should women and men be in golf. No gender stereotype or separation in college golf, professional or even occasional golf should be tolerated. There should be no reason why women and men have split tours or why it should be labeled college men or women’s golf.
Women continue to impact the world in various ways throughout sports history. Most talk about accomplishments in history books, classrooms or on significant dates and months. Nonetheless, some people never truly discuss the influence women have on golf.
There are numerous ways women are discriminated and overlooked in golf. This can either be a difference in earnings between men and women or how some private golf clubs are still able to discriminate against women. Muirfield Golf Club in Scotland in 2017 allowed women to join after 273-year by a vote.
Muirfield voted on allowing women to be admitted but only on one condition. The women must be guests of a male member of the club. This highlights the extent men will go to keep women separated in activities such as golf.
Women Rule the Green
Women play in the Ladies Professional Golf Association founded in 1950 by 13 women. On the other hand, men play in the Professional Golfers’ Association tour. Women have continuously attempted to join the PGA, but no one has ever finished a men’s tour.
“…No female golfer has succeeded in finishing a men’s tour event,” M.L. Rose said.
The first women to attempt competing against men was Babe Zaharias. She had a successful golf career winning several tournaments. Zaharias assisted with the discovery of LPGA and was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame.
Ultimately, she changed the game for women in golf and women who would play after her to challenge playing with men. She laid the groundwork for future women golfers to figure out a way to accomplish finishing a men’s tour. The same tour she participated in alongside of men but never finished.
Women and men are normally separated by gender, however, in golf both men and women both share the same comparison which is being golfers. Their winnings in tournaments are not distinctive because of their gender but because of their talent. The extraordinary talent allows them to play the sport and be successful.
Mic Potter giving advice to Emma Talley (Courtesy of Getty Images)
The Man with a Plan
The University of Alabama women’s golf team was created in 1974 and men’s golf team in 1952. The women’s golf team at UA has been around for 46 years and grew more recently with their best head coach Mic Potter. Mic Potter has been coaching UA’s women golf team since his arrival in 2005.
Upon his arrival, Potter led the women’s golf team to their second NCAA championship. He has continued their feat in the championship each year since 2007-2015. He assisted numerous women players he coached to the LPGA and led the Tide to a championship in 2012.
Potter has shaped and pushed the girls to a new and higher level than the university has ever seen. Some of the young women he coaches continue their careers in the LPGA and are successful. I believe his exceptional coaching has led to exhibit the talent women some people overlook because of gender.
“It’s a matter of being realistic and evaluating what you did,” Potter said. “Getting some practice and improving that.”
Potter’s coaching at UA has been an enjoyable experience for the girls at UA. Potter reassures them their mental is significant to play the sport because it originates with confidence. The girls’ confidence stems from themselves and having a supporting coach and teammates help fuel their confidence more.
Senior Kenzie Wright women golfer said her, and the rest of the team are a driving force behind one other gain in confidence in a tournament. The close relationship the girls have developed have allowed them to understand each other on not only in golf but on a personal level.
“We get along really well and then we’re all super close and so I think that helps a lot,” Kenzie Wright said. “We can tell if someone is a little nervous, so we give them a little pep talk.”
The girls’ focal point is not on gender when they play the sport but on certain techniques they can utilize to improve. This positive mindset Potter has for the girls motivates them to perform their best on the green. The girls naturally exemplify talent like any other golfer who is a man.
UA student Desmond Heath said he watches both women and men play in golf. Heath said he waits to watch the LPGA after he watches the PGA.
“I just feel like I could kill two birds with one stone if there were no LPGA,” Heath said. “I would be able to watch both men and women and I feel the same about UA golf.”
Tours should be either combined so it can be just one and watch both men and women play. Women are competitors and interesting to watch like men. Women rule the green.
Hey guys, check out my second podcast! Tell me what you think and if women and men golf leagues should be separated or together. Enjoy and provide feedback!
Hey guys, check out my third podcast on UA’s women golf team. Also, an update on how the Coronavirus impacted golf. Enjoy and provide feedback!
The Biggest Challenge Soccer Has Faced Thus Far
By: Briana Gregory
TUSCALOOSA, Ala.–Usually when a person flips a switch, they can flip the switch on and off. But, there’s a new person in town with new rules and its name is Coronavirus. It is not easily frightened, nor is it a switch people can turn off and on. It creeps and creeps, and soccer is one sport it intends to beat.
It lurks into countries causing havoc and spreading despair around the world. Its intentions have been to attack, and even wiped sports off the map for the season. It eventually won and brought soccer’s season to an abrupt end.
The Fresh Prince of COVID-19
People occasionally compare life to a rollercoaster, one day it goes up and it’s full of excitement. It goes around and around, up and down but then it gets flipped and turned upside down.
Several doctors and people address the virus as the Coronavirus, but the other name for the virus is COVID-19. The CO stands for Corona, VI stands for virus, and the D is for disease. The 19 is for the year COVID surfaced. The first case in the United States was found in Washington state in January of 2020. The virus began to spread as fast as a soccer team kicking the ball back and forth toward one another.
People who watch or play soccer comprehend the sport is played in close proximity. On the field, there’s sweat, some pushing, kicking and not so much six feet distance. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention has emphasized for people to social distance six feet away from one another. Soccer players are not able to play six feet away, nor are masks incorporated into their uniform.
According to various news outlets, journalists have covered the virus impact on sports businesses, future scheduled games, but not necessarily how COVID has personally impacted athletes. The virus has halted not only games, but training, conditioning and practicing. Gyms and parks are closed, and not every player has a backyard. Soccer players play because they are talented, but some even play as an outlet.
Where You Go, The Virus Goes, Just Like That
Soccer has been affected by the virus on an amateur, professional, national, international and local level. The University of Alabama soccer’s team has canceled all games after their last match on March 7. They were scheduled to compete against their conference-rival Ole Miss on March 28.
The University of Alabama soccer’s game may have been canceled or postponed because of the weather. However, a season has never been suspended because of a virus. The virus which has created a mental impact role on soccer players.
UA Junior Taylor Morgan has been playing soccer since she was a little girl. She is the only girl out of all her siblings and has two brothers who have played soccer on a collegiate level. Spring 2020 was Morgan’s last spring game in her college career. She will be graduating soon and could not foresee a virus snatching that moment away from her.
Morgan said other soccer players and herself are passionate about soccer but made it their avenue to clear their head. Morgan feels her routine has altered significantly as she spends more time indoors than in the field.
“I kind of took it for granted and I wish that I didn’t because now I miss it,” Morgan said. “I would do anything to get back on that field out there.”
Morgan and her teammates are battling with remaining fit during pre-season because of gyms and facilities closed. They yearn to be in shape for the upcoming season but are worried they may be out of shape because their main resources are shutdown. However, Morgan said she continues to run outside, and perform home workouts.
Most of them looked forward to practice, kicking around the ball, thrill of playing in the game, or being in each other’s presence. It was a way for them to escape the reality of life, academics, or to clear their head. Nonetheless, soccer exceeds more than the college level, but professionally and internationally.
So Long or Long Live Soccer
COVID-19 changed the dynamic of training and workouts for soccer players. Professional soccer players are struggling with working out in facilities, but they are becoming more creative in their homes. Likewise, international players are working out in their homes while practicing sheltering in place.
The challenge they are faced with daily is preparation for competition after the pandemic. The workouts on a bicycle or a treadmill have been effective, but trainers are pushing the workouts as if it was a regular week. This allows them to remain in shape, but it’s nowhere compared to performing workouts outside.
In Australia and other countries, soccer is known as football. It may not have the same name, but the sport is similar in every aspect.
International soccer players from various countries were expected to participate in the upcoming 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The Olympics comes around every four years, but has been postponed until 2021 because of the shutdown. The World Gothia Cup has been canceled, but it is in the works for the cup to reappear in 2021.
Soccer is temporarily absent from the world whether international, nation-wide, college or professional level. The main outlet for countless players is missing and may not appear in the same form. Many are worried when normalcy will return and concerned if it will return sooner than later.
Because of COVID’s impact, soccer players, coaches, and people in authority may take different approaches towards safety. The future of soccer may be tested because of trauma and current precautions. Trauma from the vast amount of deaths or post-traumatic stress disorder all over the world because of the impact. Innumerable people have taken precautions because of the symptoms, and how contagious the spread has been.
UA Communications for soccer and rowing, Allison Koerbel, believes safety protocols will be administered more than ever before. Admittedly, she does not see any dramatic changes in soccer’s future.
“I think if everybody was cleared and everything, it really wouldn’t change the sport,” Koerbel said. “Because at the end of the day it’s really not like wrestling or football where you’re really on top of people.”
Koerbel makes it clear that soccer will not be defeated by the impact of COVID-19. She has high spirits the team will return back in the fall, and finish what they started with strong will.
UA Junior Emma Thomson’s soccer position at UA is a Forward. Thomson transferred to UA from Pennsylvania State University to continue her soccer career. Quite frankly, she feels the opposite of Koerbel, and believes the projection of soccer in the future will alter.
“Big changes might be made including a certain number of people on the bench, or fans not being allowed to come,” Thomson said. “For a player that makes a huge impact because we are used to a certain environment and that may not be anymore.”
Thomson’s outlet forced her to create new hobbies to fill the void of not being able to play soccer. As quarantine progresses, she battles mentally and physically with no practice or games.
“Without that, things have been a lot harder mentally,” Thomson said. “With all this time it’s a lot harder to kind of block things out which were much easier while I was playing or at practice.”
Thomson and other players around the world are doing the best they can under the current circumstances. The effort counts and demonstrates how persistent and determined they are to get back on the field. The virus is known to make an impact physically, but many are not aware of the mental impact it has caused and how it has ruined sports for the season, and mentally impacted athletes.
Deja-Who?
They never predicted their lives would be turned upside down because of a virus. The virus came full speed like a soccer ball with ill intentions traveling to one player to the next. It is clear as day the virus took more from them than just the physical.
There are seniors on the team who looked forward to showcasing their talent for the last time this year. Last time playing on UA’s field, or high school field. Moments they once dreamed of completing are seized from them effortlessly.
They did not allow this to keep them in the dark, and the athletes continue to work harder while promoting and practicing sheltering in place. Despite being a player, there’s more to them than simply soccer. They are human and feel the effects of the shutdown how others feel about sports seizing to exist right now.
Coronavirus has been the driver on this long and dragged rollercoaster ride. A ride people want to get off and certainly has people on their toes. Eventually, the switch will turn on and off again, sports will resurface, and soccer will return. Then, it will no longer be the challenge soccer has faced, in fact, a challenge they defeated.
alabamaswomengolf.sport.blog 