Following a sub-par performance in New Orleans, the Crimson Tide women’s golf team will travel to Hilton Head, S.C., next week for the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate tournament.
The second-ranked Tide is coming off a fourth place overall finish in New Orleans at the Allstate Sugar Bowl Intercollegiate. Despite a top-ten finish, head coach Mic Potter said the team could have finished much higher, if not in first going into next weekend’s tournament.
“I thought that the amount of pressure on our leaders killed us,” Potter said. “But we were strong enough to finish in a decent position after the hole we dug ourselves in early.”
Potter said that the timing of the tournament rattled some of the players and it showed out on the course.
“If we had played in a couple of early tournaments we could have built up some experience,” he said. “But this being our first tournament, we saw frustration out there early. However, I do think we can build off of some of the things we saw out there.”
Some of the things Potter saw in New Orleans were a fourth place individual finish by junior Jennifer Kirby, who shot a 68, and an eleventh place finish by senior Brooke Pancake.
“I thought we did alright,” Kirby said. “I think that there are a lot of things that we can build on when we play in South Carolina.”
The Tide will be among 16 other universities competing in the first ever Darius Rucker Invitational at the Long Cove Club course in Hilton Head. The University of South Carolina will be hosting the event, which is sponsored by former Hootie & the Blowfish frontman-turned-country-singer, Darius Rucker.
“I think the girls are really excited,” Potter said. “I know that Darius Rucker will be holding a concert for all of the teams. And we will have an excellent opportunity to face great competition on one of the most prestigious courses in the country.”
The Tide will face top-20 competition such as Georgia, Tennessee and Texas, among other impressive schools from the Southeastern Conference, Atlantic Coast Conference and Big XII. But Potter said despite a shaky start in tournament play, he is impressed at what he has seen thus far out of his players.
“We came into the winter with a goal,” he said. “We wanted to improve each of the girl’s play individually and I think the girls have bought into that. I think that the girls are a lot more realistic and confident when they step out on the course this year.”
If the Tide can manage to pull off a first place finish, it would be their fifth of the season. But Potter echoed the same mentality that many of his Alabama peers preach.
“We just have to pick up from where we left off,” he said. “And finish it off the next time.”
