The women’s golf team is looking to put it all together this coming season after its ninth place finish in last season’s Mid-American Conference Championship tournament.

With only two seniors–only one a regular starter–on the roster last season, the Falcons were young. The team’s scoring average leader, Bailey Arnold, felt the team’s overall inexperience played a factor during the championship.

“It was a lot of player’s first time there last year and we didn’t know exactly what to expect, and there was a lot of pressure,” Arnold said.

Last season was a building year into this coming year, Arnold said.

The Falcons showed promise early on, setting multiple team and individual scoring records at the North Texas Fall Classic but did not place better than sixth in any tournament last season.

To improve, players are competing in several tournaments this summer, Arnold said. Like other sports, the NCAA does not allow the golf team to hold organized practices while school is not in session, so it is up to each individual player to enter tournaments and continue crafting their game during the summer.

Coach Stephanie Young said most are competing in the TaylorMade-sponsored college tour, which puts on tournaments in Indiana, Ohio and Michigan.

“It’s a very good [TaylorMade] tour because a lot of girls we play against are in it, too, so you know how you stack up,” Arnold said.

Players will continue competing in the TaylorMade tournaments, among others, until organized practices begin the first week of fall semester.

In the fall, Coach Young will have auditions to determine which five players on the seven-woman roster will start the first tournament. Lowest scoring average, academic standing and conditioning efforts are all factors weighed by Young to determine the starters, said team Captain Amy Ruthenberg.

The official schedule is still a work-in-progress and will be released closer to fall semester, but the Falcons will compete in several tournaments in the fall and spring, ending with the MAC championship in April.

While all tournaments are important, the success of the season is basically defined by the last, Young said.

“Essentially, if you want to really whittle it down, we’re going for a MAC championship,” she said.