Theresa Apoznanski is a junior captain and three-year contributor to the New York University women's golf team. Periodically throughout the season, she will share her thoughts in this space.
Written 10/15/09
This season has gone by so fast, and with our last tournament approaching, it's a great time to look back and reflect on how far we've come in just one semester!
The Mount Holyoke tournament was a true test of our games — both mentally and physically. The first round was one of the most solid team totals we have ever posted. The Orchards Country Club, where the LPGA held the U.S. Women's Open, is an incredibly difficult course! Tight fairways, elevated greens, and scores of deep fairway bunkers make it the most challenging course we play. Add on six hours of constant, cold rain like we had on Sunday and our seventh-place finish isn't as bad as we all thought.
If anything, our poor play the second day motivated us to perform well at the Martin/Wallace tournament the following weekend in Cortland, NY. We sure did! With beautiful golfing weather, we gave Cortland a run for their money and missed beating the 25th-ranked team nationally for second place by 2 strokes! Nonetheless, the first day we shot our second lowest team total of the season, and I broke my personal record by one stroke, coming in with a 75!
With such strong play the first day, we really had to make sure we kept our head in the game for the second day. It's very easy to lose focus during the last 18 holes when you come in overconfident or expecting too much. Personally speaking, I fell into that trap on the first 9, shooting a four-over 40. Knowing that I was better than that, I was able to rally back and shoot even on the back to win the tournament!
Being the first one in, I was waiting nervously as the rest of the girls finished, and we were beating Cortland after four out of the five scores were posted. It was a crushing blow to see the fifth Cortland score was lower than one already posted. Counting the top four scores, they managed to squeeze past us and get the hardware. Nonetheless we will be sure to fight even harder next year!
The following weekend was the William's Invitational in Williamstown, MA. We only played one day because of the change in schedule, and it was again a true test of our strength. We actually played decently well despite the temperatures barely getting out of the upper 40s and showers on and off all day. Many of our freshman were able to come back after a bad first nine holes and shoot incredibly well on the back. This type of mental edge is getting stronger each tournament, and soon we will be seeing our hard work pay off!
With just two full days left in the fall season, we will have our final tournament this weekend at home! OUR FIRST EVER NYU WOMEN'S INVITATIONAL! So exciting! While the weather doesn't look like it will be cooperating with us, we are still pumped to get out there with the support of our parents and friends and mark another turning point in the program's history!
Written 9/11/09
It's been a summer full of anticipation for this fall, and now that we have arrived, we are more optimistic than ever! I was quite impressed with the turnout for the optional practices I held during Welcome Week, and they sure seemed to help.
Welcome Week was full of great memories both on and off the course. There was a range session on Monday night and we went out to Queens on Thursday to get in some short game practice. It was great meeting all the girls and their parents in a laid-back setting before tryouts began. While no cuts were made this year, we do have a full roster of nine girls teeming with talent!
Joanna (Lau) invited both the men's and women's teams over to her place on Wednesday night and we were all able to have a great bonding experience. On Monday the women played 27 holes to jumpstart our games, followed by 18 on Tuesday. It sure will be long days with eight-hour practices, but I wouldn't have it any other way!
With only two official practices under our belts, we left Thursday for our first tournament of the season at St. Lawrence University in Canton, NY. As always, the bus ride with the guys was full of laughs and great memories. The traditional "Mean Girls" and "Gladiator" were played, and our usual stop at Ruby Tuesday put us all in a great mood to start the weekend. Arriving late at the hotel, we eagerly crawled into our beds and got some sleep.
