LAKELAND, Fla. – The Lady Moc Classic was a test of patience for the Argos women's golf team on Monday and Tuesday as dreadful weather conditions affected the entire tournament. In a stacked field, UWF finished 11th out of 18 teams with a team score of 616.
The tournament, which only invites an elite field of teams, featured 12 top 25 nationally ranked teams, including four out of the five top teams in the country. Historically, the Argos have seen great team and individual performances at the Lady Moc Classic with the course setting up for good scoring opportunities. This year, scoring was limited for all teams with downpours that made the course unplayable in areas. On day one the team was only able to get through 14 holes before play was called. On day two the tournament was resumed where day one had been left off and then condensed to 36 holes instead of the usual 54-hole format.
Starting out the Argos had a challenge in front of them with the team starting on holes 12 through 15. "Our Starting holes were 12, 13, 14, 15," said head coach
Kristen Dorsey. "Meaning that we were going to hit the toughest stretch of holes first in arguably the toughest weather." Holes 13 and 15 scored more bogeys and double bogeys than any holes on the course.
UWF had a slow start and fell quickly on the scoreboard. The team combined to shoot 10 over in the first four holes, but over the following ten holes on the day the team only shot four over. Both
Alia Scotka and
Millie Thompson shot three over, 75 in round one to lead West Florida. Despite the challenges UWF was in the mix with no team shooting less than 10 over in the first round.
On day two of competition the Argos tried to shake off the weather and be flexible with the new schedule. "We talked about winning the day and not letting the conditions define us," Dorsey said. "Let's play Argo golf and play disciplined. That was our word of the day: discipline."
The Argos started strong in the round but dealt with some struggles on the greens leading to three-putts. The team finished round two 21-over.
Scotka, who finished 14th overall individually with a four-over, 148 showed her senior leadership on the course when put in a tough situation. After making birdie on hole two, Scotka then went bogey, birdie, bogey, birdie, bogey. Dorsey mentioned the mental battle of needing to rebound from a stretch like that where you need to fight back from a bogey hole. Scotka finished the round with a 73 (+1).
The Argos finished ahead of two teams who were ranked above them in the national polls.
UWF remained at No. 25 in the most recent national rankings. The team will take a week off competition before playing at the Emerald Coast Classic at Baytowne Golf Club in Destin on March 9-11.
