Golf teams hope hard work will pay off

Dusting off their clubs and entering into the spring season, the Pacific Men’s and Women’s Golf Teams hope to show the fine tuned skills they’ve acquired during the fall season.
Practice began for the teams on Sunday, Feb. 12.
After losing several key players due to graduation last year, the men’s golf team had to restructure its team to be ready to compete.
During the fall season, the men’s team focused on each individual’s weak areas and began improving on their fundamental golf skills.
“We have guys that are willing to work hard and improve which is going to be a key to our success,” said senior Marcus Kienlen.
One of the keys to success that the men’s team has focused on is playing often.
“We have been trying to get out and play as much as possible, but it is hard during the winter,” said Kienlen. “As soon as the weather gets nice we all are back out there working on our games.”
For the women’s team a main focus during the off-season was finding a full team to put on the fairway.
Two additions to the roster helped the women’s team fill their empty slots; freshman Claire Ramaley and junior Courtney Manning.
“I’ve technically been playing golf since I was eight, and played all four years in high school,” said Ramaley. “I wasn’t planning on playing for Pacific at the beginning of the year, but then Coach Warren emailed me, and I realized that I truly missed playing.”
The fundamentals of the game have been a serious focus for the women’s team as well.
“Our main focus is improving individually and as a team overall,” said junior Kaci Linton. “We always make golf as fun as possible while working hard to improve our scores and averages from the fall season.”
With a team that has experience from during the fall season they are ready to keep improving and Head Coach Richard Warren said he is optimistic about the spring season.
“I look forward to us continuing to improve and just do things better as individuals and as a team,” said Warren.
“I expect us to buckle down and become the hardest working program in the conference so we can improve our position in the conference standing. I look forward to maximum effort.”
The first invitational for both teams is the Pacific Invitational at The Reserve Vineyards and Golf Club in Aloha, Ore. on March 17 and 18.