Men and women hit the links

by Ian Van Anden
Ass. Sports Editor

Yes, it is that time of year the links will be opening soon. The men’s team will be open their seasons over spring break on their annual spring trip and this year they will be heading to Lake of the Ozarks, MO.

After returning from Missouri and their first competition, the men will face an arduous schedule that will take them all over the great state of Illinois.

The Scots do have two home matches this year, as they will play at Gibson Woods Gold Course Saturday Apr. 15 in the Monmouth College Invitational.

Then on Saturday Apr. 29, the men will host the first round of the Midwest Conference South Division Tournament again at Gibson Woods Golf Course.

If any of the men qualify for NCAA Finals they will be shipped to Firehorn Golf Club in Lincoln, NE.

Last year, the men had a solid team and they have brought back a solid team and will look to improve on last year’s marks. The team will be predominately lead by a strong class of juniors.

The juniors include Jeff Denny, Lee Radford, and Doug Middendorf. Seniors Jeff Malek and Mike Wilmoth will be the only representatives from their class. The Scots will look for a lift from their three freshmen Greg Jones, Jake Kilberg, and Ryan Powers.

The men’s golf team will be coached by Dave Ragone who is in his sixth year as the team’s coach. Since being reinstated in 2000, the team with Ragone at the head has captured the Midwest Conference title twice.

The ladies will return from spring break ready to tee-off with their first match happening on the first weekend of April. On April 1-2 the ladies will go to the University of St. Francis Lady Saints Invitational at Broken Arrow Golf Course in Lockport, IL.

The ladies will only be competing in two tournaments this year and their second of the two will be the Augustana Invitational at Emeis Golf Course in Davenport, IA.

The last time the ladies competed at this course everyone scored their personal best scores. Junior and team leader Kacie Parge commented on the invitational, “Now that everyone has played and succeeded on the course we should do even better this time around.”

The ladies are looking for a lift from four key players this season. Freshmen Heidi Hartsorne and Jessica Sackville will both be called on to help the ladies improve and compete against Midwest Conference opponents.

Sophomores Pam Steskal and Meghan Lucker will both returning to the team after sitting out in the fall. Their presence and play brought a lift to the team in their first year and they will look to bring that same lift this time around.

Parge believes “we should be a far stronger and deeper team this spring compared to where we were in the fall.”

Parge herself has set a personal goal for the two matches this year: “I would just really like to break my old personal low score; I am looking to shoot at sub 86 sometime during this spring, I think I have a pretty good shot.”

The ladies will be led this year by first year Coach Molly McNamara. McNamara took over the coaching duties in the fall of 2005 after Pieper was relieved of his duties. All though the team struggled mightily under its first fall season under McNamara hopes are higher now that she and then team have a feel for each other.

As for the team goals and aspirations Parge states, “I just want t see us compete in the Midwest Conference. We have a lot of potential we are a very young team, we just need to get into the swing of things ha-ha.”

Men’s Golf Team
Jeff Malek, Senior - Bartlett, Il
Mike Wilmoth, Senior - Clinton, Il
Jeff Denny, Junior - Atlanta, Il
Nick Harwick, Junior - Canton, Il
Justin Martin Junior - Monmouth, Il
Doug Middendorf Junior - Peoria, Il
Josh Pinney Junior - Monmouth, Il
Lee Radford Junior - Orion, Il
Ian Wallace Junior - Vancouver, Canada
Erik Hoffer Sophomore - Palos Hills, Il
Joel Johnson Sophomore - Waterman, Il
Greg Jones Freshman - Roseville, Il
Jake Kilberg Freshman - Rock Falls, Il
Ryan Powers Freshman - Pekin, Il

Women’s Golf Team
Erin DeFord Sophomore - Chillicothe, Il
Stephanie Haas Junior - Geneva, Il
Heidi Hartshorn Freshman - Roscoe, Il
Janet Kajor Junior - Woodridge, Il
Celsey Link Freshman - Danville, Iowa
Kacie Parge Junior - Aurora, Il
Jessica Sackville Freshman - Aledo, Il
Kathleen Woolley Sophomore - Crystal Lake, Il