Women working off rust after long break

The winter weather is finally starting to fade, allowing spring sports to compete.

The University of South Dakota’s women’s golf team will travel to Omaha to compete in the Creighton University Classic Monday and Tuesday after nearly a month without a meet.

Coach Nick Hovden said the warm weather has given the women a chance to practice outside.

“The course has been opened up this past week so we’ve been outside playing as much as we can, fighting the wind, cold and rain,” Hovden said.

With seven underclassmen on the team, Hovden said this tournament will help the younger players gain experience.

Sophomore Nicole Funck said she has high expectations for the tournament.

“We should be able to play pretty well since we’ve been able to practice outside now that the weather is nice,” Funck said. “Our strength this meet will be that we will be more consistent with our shots because we have had so much more time to practice.”

Senior Stephanie Zavilla said the team consistently competes in the Creighton Classic and it has good competition.

“This will be our third year playing in this tournament,” Zavilla said. “It will also be a good chance to get more experience for our upcoming conference tournament.”

Zavilla said this tournament has the added bonus of a more level playing field.

“When we play down in the South we play against teams that practice all year round,” Zavilla said. “We will be playing with other Midwest teams that have had just as much practice as us.”

Reach reporter Payton Randle at [email protected].