A season ripe with struggles once again landed the Penn State women's golf team in a position they had hoped to avoid all season.
The Nittany Lions finished 10th out of a field of 14 teams with a score of 112-over 976 at the Lady Buckeye tournament this weekend in Columbus, Ohio.
The tournament provided the Lions with an opportunity to play several Big Ten schools and practice for the upcoming Big Ten Championship, which is less than a week away.
The Big Ten participants included golf powerhouses Purdue, which finished No. 1, Michigan State and Ohio State.
Junior Christin Pacacha said the team's scores weren't much better overall compared to previous tournaments, even though it ranked higher.
"It was a very tough golf course -- one you really have to respect," she said. "So the numbers weren't all that bad. It was a step in the right direction."
Pacacha finished the tournament tied at No. 60 with a score of 35-over 251.
The tournament started out rough for her on Saturday, but she picked up the pace and played a more solid round of golf on Sunday.
"On Saturday, I just found every bunker in the course," she said. "[Sunday], I played very well. I was feeling good about hitting the ball, but I tripped up at the finish line -- the last 4 holes were my demise."
In order to succeed this weekend at the Big Ten Championship, Pacacha said she and her teammates have to work on their short game.
"We hit the ball well, but we get into trouble around the green," she said. "We all have got to develop a better short game. That's where tournaments are won and lost."
The team will only have two days to practice before heading to Michigan State on Wednesday. The tournament will begin on Friday with 36 holes and finish on Sunday with 18 holes.
With little practice or a lot of practice one thing always remains true of golf. According to Pacacha, it's not a team sport by nature, which makes it very tough.
"You have to get four good scores on the same day," she said. "We can put up a good showing and we're perfectly capable of competing and hitting the ball as well as anyone else. The main thing for us is to score -- it's trying to get the ball in hole."
