Venturing north, the women’s golf team faced off with five Northwest Conference teams March 10 and 11 at the Pacific Lutheran University Invitational in Walla Walla, Wash.

Restarting the season, the Wildcats pushed through wind and rain during the first day of the PLU Invitational.

“Spring golf can be rough because of the conditions that we will be playing in,” junior Brinn Hovde said. “Rain, hail and snow are all things that we will be facing, which can definitely add some complications to the game.”

The Wildcats finished the PLU Invitational in third place out of the seven teams.

The team scored a total of 526 strokes, 94 strokes above par. The invitational winning team was George Fox University, scoring 491.

Linfield’s top competitor was sophomore Hannah Christianson, who placed 14th. Following closely behind Christianson were her four teammates, sophomore  Alexandria Smith, Hovde, and seniors Sophia Corr and Lyndia Smith, placing 16th, 17th, 18th and 21st.

“We all have our minds in the right spot and that’s a solid foundation to build off of,” Hovde said. “We are excited for the season, and I know that we will embrace this to perform at a level to get us on top.”

The team placed fourth in the first day of the invitational. Taking the lead of the competition was Whitman with a team score of 329 strokes.

The Wildcats trailed the lead team by 26 strokes.

Hovde said, the five-woman team hopes to keep its high standings this spring, despite a drop in team members.

During the last nine years, the membership of the women’s golf team has bounced around from as many as 10, to a low of four.

Coach Brian Trowbridge joined the team in the  2010-2011 season.

However, only a year and a half later, Trowbridge resigned, and he was replaced by interim head coach James Yen.

Hovde said that the team would have to be self-motivated during the coming season.

“This spring we are going to have to keep working hard to maintain our high standing in the conference,” Hovde said. “We lost a couple players but we are going to keep it in the right perspective and step up to take on the extra responsibility.”

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Kaylyn Peterson/Sports editor
Kaylyn Peterson can be reached at [email protected].