California Lutheran University’s men’s and women’s golf teams dominated their competition at the Midwest Regional Classic on Sept. 21-22 in Kansasville, Wisconsin. The Kingsmen ranked 5th and the Regals ranked 1st overall out of 44 teams.
According to CLUSports.com, senior Adam Cartozian led the Kingsmen by shooting 4-under on the par-72 course. Cartozian also eagled the par-5 second hole, had 13 pars, and three birdies to only one bogey. He finished tied for 17th individually for the weekend at 1-over.
CLUSports.com said that first-year Caroline Morris and senior Ashley Zook of the Regals golf team tied for second place in individual rankings. Morris ended with a 75 on the par-72 course, 5-over with three holes to go before back-to-back birdies on holes 16 and 17, and she finished the weekend at 7-over.
Zook shot 77, with a 38 on the front nine, a 39 on the back nine, and birdied the par-4 hole nine. Zook said that she was surprised on the way she has been playing because her scores keep getting lower.
“I’ve been surprised on how have things been going and so far with these three tournaments, it’s been pretty well,” Zook said.
Cartozian said that this was one of the biggest tournaments the Kingsmen have competed in, but that the team didn’t let those nerves get in the way of its performance.
“We enjoyed the challenge and we all get nervous when we got to play,” Cartozian said. “But I think overall we enjoy it more than anything else.”
Anna Poulin, a sophomore on the Regals golf team, said she was mainly nervous because they were going up against teams they had never played.
“This made me and the team a little nervous,” Poulin said. “I think it also motivated us to simply play our own games and not worry about what the rest of the field was doing.”
Poulin said the incoming first-years helped the team dynamic and created a more competitive environment filled with lots of potential.
Cartozian said that at the beginning of the tournament, the team felt that they had the potential to win it all. However, a couple of rounds did not go their way.
“We ranked above some of the schools; that is important for national rankings in the future,” Cartozian said. “So overall it was a positive outlook.”
Blake Fitzhugh, senior on the Kingsmen golf team said getting 5th place out of 44 teams was a little disappointing because they always want to come out on top.
“We all could have performed a little better in order to win, and I think we can all use it as motivation going into our spring season,” Fitzhugh said.
Fitzhugh said that one of the challenges they encountered in Wisconsin was the different field conditions. Cartozian said that it’s all about going with the flow and being able to adjust to those conditions.
“One of the hard things about traveling is playing different types of courses,” Fitzhugh said. “The grass is a little different in Wisconsin, but our team got some good practice during our practice round before the tournament. We did a good job at adjusting our distance control.”
Zook said this tournament showed the women’s team their potential for the spring half of their season.
“The team kind of grew,” Zook said. “From my freshman year to now, I would say we’re actually in a good position.”
Zook said that one of the main ways she was able to help her team get to where they are now was by leading by example for the first-years. Over the summer she said she worked on her swing and tempo to make sure she keeps growing.
Cartozian said that leading by example is a strategy he and his co-captain use in practices or matches. They want to model good behavior for their teammates, making sure that everyone is on the same page.
“So it’s just you’re always staying in it and trying to get better at wherever you can,” Cartozian said. “We’re just there to motivate them and try to help them and anything that they need and make them comfortable competing.”
Moving into their spring season, both Cartozian and Zook expressed that they want to keep building off of this momentum and go further than they did the previous season.
“We want to have a lower team scoring average and to play higher at the SCIAC championship at the end of the season,” Poulin said. “We also want to outwork other teams on the course and in the gym.”
The Kingsmen and Regals golf teams recently concluded their fall season after returning from a tournament in Redlands, California. Both Zook and Cartozian expressed that the outcome of that tournament was not what they were hoping for.
“I think in the future we’re going to have to work on it a little bit more, core strategy on events like that and working to our strengths instead of trying to attack the golf course in ways that don’t work,” Cartozian said. “I think that was more of a learning experience tournament for sure. In the future, we’ll definitely do better on events like that.”
