Ball State University Athletics
Women's Golf Prepares For 2006-07 Season
August 24, 2006 | Women's Golf
For third-year Ball State head coach Katherine Mowat, motivation for her 2006-07 Cardinals should not be a problem. Mowat's 2006-07 team, which features four seniors, is just six months removed from challenging for the 2006 Mid-American Conference Championship.
Through 54 holes of the league's 72-hole event, the Cardinals were in contention and challenged perennial powers Kent State and Toledo. In the end, the Cardinals stumbled a bit in the final 18 holes to finish third, sill marking Ball State's first top three finish in league play. Four Cardinals finished in the top 20, while Kallie Harrison was named to the All-MAC Second Team.
"We had a good MAC Tournament," Mowat says. "With our low score on the final day only a 76, we knew we had to go much lower in order to finish higher. It was a fun tournament though and it shows how far our program has come, especially with four players finishing in the top 20."
With the program's most successful league tournament, plus winning the 2006 Butler Spring Invitational and a fourth-place finish at the Eastern Kentucky Invitational, Mowat is confident her returning group of players know how far they have come.
"The players definitely recognize our team's improvement over the last two years," Mowat says. "Our seniors have been part of that constant improvement over the last two years, and they know this is their last shot at a MAC Championship. They know what is at stake and what they are capable of, so that's a major motivator."
Harrison leads the list of returnees after making an immediate impact in her first season at Ball State a year ago. The transfer from Southern Illinois posted 24 competitive rounds for a 77.54 stroke average. Harrison registered six top 12 finishes, including a school-record 54-hole total of 227 (76-78-73) at the Unlimited Potential/Bay Hill Classic. She fired a season-low 73 two times.
"Kallie is our team captain and I couldn't ask for a better leader," Mowat says. "She's very driven and I expect her to pick up right where she left off last year. Kallie has very high goals. There are more records that she has yet to obtain. She expects to win tournaments and shoot low scores. She will be a tremendous leader for her class and our entire team."
Joining Harrison in the veteran group are seniors Chelsie Flannery, Holly Jones and Amber Uphaus. Flannery saw limited action a year ago recovering from an injury, while Jones competed in 18 rounds and Uphaus logged action in 30 rounds.
"We have a group who has experience and has been part of what we have accomplished in the last two years," Mowat says. "They have to be leaders for us on and off the course. I know this group will do just that."
Ashley Burgess is the team's lone junior, while sophomore Sarah Windlan and freshmen Amy Roberts, Kirsty O'Connor and Melissa Miller round out the Cardinals' roster.
"With four seniors, that's a big class in a sport this small," Mowat says. "We have four underclassmen and five upperclassmen, so it's the extreme from freshmen and seniors. We have a lot of players who could potentially make the top five and it could very well be changing from tournament to tournament."
The freshman class of O'Connor and Roberts is intriguing, not just because of their stellar junior golf careers, but also because they represent the program's first international recruits -- Roberts fromCanada and O'Connor from England .
"It's always hard to know for sure how any freshman will adjust to the college setting and a Division I sport. Amy has had a very extensive travel schedule, playing a lot of golf over the summer. She will need to stay focused on her game and could help us right away. As for Kirsty, we will be playing courses that will be different from any she's seen or played before. She will have to adjust to American-style golf courses, but I expect her to be right in there as well."
After a season-opening tournament at Tri-State, the 2006-07 season hits full stride when Ball State hosts its own Cardinal Classic Sept. 9-10 at The Player's Club in Muncie. The fall slate includes a trip to Colorado, before a pair of events to conclude October in Indiana and Ohio.
The 2007 spring schedule opens with a return trip to the Rio Verde Invitational in Arizona and the UNCW Seahawk Invitational in North Carolina, while the 2007 MAC Championship will be played at Longaberger Golf Club in Nashport, Ohio.
"Every year I get more excited and there is greater anticipation because I am building my program," Mowat says. "I have been able to shape where the program is going and now, two years later, there definitely is more excitement on my part because I feel I have had an impact."
The impact, combined with a veteran group of players and a talented group of new faces, could lead the Cardinals to their first MAC Championship in 2007.
Through 54 holes of the league's 72-hole event, the Cardinals were in contention and challenged perennial powers Kent State and Toledo. In the end, the Cardinals stumbled a bit in the final 18 holes to finish third, sill marking Ball State's first top three finish in league play. Four Cardinals finished in the top 20, while Kallie Harrison was named to the All-MAC Second Team.
"We had a good MAC Tournament," Mowat says. "With our low score on the final day only a 76, we knew we had to go much lower in order to finish higher. It was a fun tournament though and it shows how far our program has come, especially with four players finishing in the top 20."
With the program's most successful league tournament, plus winning the 2006 Butler Spring Invitational and a fourth-place finish at the Eastern Kentucky Invitational, Mowat is confident her returning group of players know how far they have come.
"The players definitely recognize our team's improvement over the last two years," Mowat says. "Our seniors have been part of that constant improvement over the last two years, and they know this is their last shot at a MAC Championship. They know what is at stake and what they are capable of, so that's a major motivator."
Harrison leads the list of returnees after making an immediate impact in her first season at Ball State a year ago. The transfer from Southern Illinois posted 24 competitive rounds for a 77.54 stroke average. Harrison registered six top 12 finishes, including a school-record 54-hole total of 227 (76-78-73) at the Unlimited Potential/Bay Hill Classic. She fired a season-low 73 two times.
"Kallie is our team captain and I couldn't ask for a better leader," Mowat says. "She's very driven and I expect her to pick up right where she left off last year. Kallie has very high goals. There are more records that she has yet to obtain. She expects to win tournaments and shoot low scores. She will be a tremendous leader for her class and our entire team."
Joining Harrison in the veteran group are seniors Chelsie Flannery, Holly Jones and Amber Uphaus. Flannery saw limited action a year ago recovering from an injury, while Jones competed in 18 rounds and Uphaus logged action in 30 rounds.
"We have a group who has experience and has been part of what we have accomplished in the last two years," Mowat says. "They have to be leaders for us on and off the course. I know this group will do just that."
Ashley Burgess is the team's lone junior, while sophomore Sarah Windlan and freshmen Amy Roberts, Kirsty O'Connor and Melissa Miller round out the Cardinals' roster.
"With four seniors, that's a big class in a sport this small," Mowat says. "We have four underclassmen and five upperclassmen, so it's the extreme from freshmen and seniors. We have a lot of players who could potentially make the top five and it could very well be changing from tournament to tournament."
The freshman class of O'Connor and Roberts is intriguing, not just because of their stellar junior golf careers, but also because they represent the program's first international recruits -- Roberts from
"It's always hard to know for sure how any freshman will adjust to the college setting and a Division I sport. Amy has had a very extensive travel schedule, playing a lot of golf over the summer. She will need to stay focused on her game and could help us right away. As for Kirsty, we will be playing courses that will be different from any she's seen or played before. She will have to adjust to American-style golf courses, but I expect her to be right in there as well."
After a season-opening tournament at Tri-State, the 2006-07 season hits full stride when Ball State hosts its own Cardinal Classic Sept. 9-10 at The Player's Club in Muncie. The fall slate includes a trip to Colorado, before a pair of events to conclude October in Indiana and Ohio.
The 2007 spring schedule opens with a return trip to the Rio Verde Invitational in Arizona and the UNCW Seahawk Invitational in North Carolina, while the 2007 MAC Championship will be played at Longaberger Golf Club in Nashport, Ohio.
"Every year I get more excited and there is greater anticipation because I am building my program," Mowat says. "I have been able to shape where the program is going and now, two years later, there definitely is more excitement on my part because I feel I have had an impact."
The impact, combined with a veteran group of players and a talented group of new faces, could lead the Cardinals to their first MAC Championship in 2007.
Players Mentioned
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