Cyclone women seek to continue hot streak

Dan Martin

The ISU women’s golf team is back in action Sunday and Monday in Gainesville, Fla., for the SunTrust Gator Invitational.

The No. 11 Cyclones could win their second tournament in a row. They won the Central District Invitational last week after going up nine strokes on No. 4 LSU.

“We always go out playing and hoping to win,” said senior Laurence Herman. “If we can’t win it, then we definitely want to get top three.”

The tournament will be played on the 6,701-yard Mark Bostick Golf Course, par-70. The Cyclones have never played there before, but coach Christie Martens has seen it and knows what to expect.

“It’s just your typical Florida golf course,” Martens said. “It’s Bermuda grass, it’s pretty straight forward, some nice par 3s. It should be a good test for our team.”

The competition there will be tough.

“It’s a solid field, so it should be just a good test,” Martens said. “There’s not any top five teams there like the last two weeks with Alabama, LSU and Purdue, but it should be a good solid field.”

The Cyclones may be the most feared team at the tournament. Following their win last week, Golfstat named them the “Team of the Week.” The Cyclone women insists the national attention they are receiving will not affect their play.

“It’s nice that people are beginning to recognize us,” said senior Victoria Stefensen. “But we don’t think about our ranking or anything like that when we play. We are just out there playing our best golf and hoping it’s good enough for a win.”

Sasikarn On-iam, a freshman from Thialand, has been shooting very well so far this spring. She hopes to continue her and the team’s hot streak.

“I just hope I can play my best,” On-iam said. “I hope we win. I also want to just play [well] and stay strong mentally and hope the team does good.”

The first two rounds of the tournament will be played Monday. The final round will be played Tuesday morning.