Despite the wintery weather forcing practice indoors, the Alabama women’s golf team has been making strides since its first tournament two weeks ago. The Crimson Tide came in eighth place at the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge, its first tournament back since the fall season.

Now, with first tournament jitters out of the way and with two weeks of extra practice under its belt, the Crimson Tide will compete in the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate Tournament in Hilton Head, South Carolina, for the fourth consecutive year.

Although not pleased with the initial results, coach Mic Potter said the team showed a lot of improvement from the previous season.

“Typically you don’t like eighth-place finishes, and I didn’t here, but I saw a lot of good things and it was a really good field,” he said. “A lot of the top-25 teams were there. It was obvious that we were rusty but I felt like we were actually in a pretty good place for the second week of February.”

Potter also said the team drove the ball fairly well and had many solid shots.

However, improvement is key especially since Alabama was unable to meet expectations. Potter said the team’s inexperience is holding it back, but he hopes the girls can come into their own toward mid-season.

The Crimson Tide is very familiar with the Long Cove greens, winning the first two tournaments but faltering last year.

“If they play the way they are capable of, we can be competitive,” Potter said. “I read a stat after California that if each of our players improved three shots per round, we’d be the No. 1 ranked team in the country. Three shots is a lot at their level, but two is definitely doable that would put us in the top 10 in the country. I just look for constant improvement.”

Potter’s starting lineup includes junior Emma Tally, junior Janie Jackson, freshman Lakareber Abe, sophomore Mia Landegren and either sophomore Cammie Gray or freshman Nicole Morales.

After the tournament, Alabama will have the opportunity to attend a concert put on by Darius Rucker. Potter said it’s one of the team’s favorite parts of competing in the tournament.

“They better be excited about playing but I know they are excited about the concert,” Potter said.