The ISU women’s golf team hits the road again Monday to play in its first tournament in nearly a month. The Edwin Watts/Palmetto Intercollegiate takes place in Kiawah Island, S.C., and boasts a 19-team field.

The golfers last competed Oct. 3 in Lawrence, Kan. The team finished in eighth place and had two players record scores in the top 10. Senior Christi Athas shot a 232, tying for 10th place, and junior Karly Pinder recorded a career-best ninth place finish with a 231.

The solid individual performances, however, didn’t do enough to raise the team’s results; it once again finished in the middle of the pack.

“We’ve had some really good play from individuals, and we just have to translate that to our team,” said coach Christie Martens. “We just need to be clicking on all four cylinders as a team to show how good we are.”

After the lengthy break from competitive action, the team is rested and ready to show that it can be a force in the Big 12.

“We had some quality practice time, time to focus on some things that we can improve on for this tournament,” Pinder said. “I feel like everyone used the time efficiently to make improvements.”

Martens agreed the time off will be beneficial to the team. “I think it’s been really helpful for us to be able to refocus and get prepared,” she said.

As they focused on making improvements, the Cyclones targeted one area as a priority – the short game. The team feels it is the one part of its game that is holding it back from taking the next step.

“Our improvements need to come from the short game,” Pinder said. “Sometimes our rounds get away from us just because our putting and chipping isn’t quite where it needs to be. If we can improve on the short game area, that will be the biggest difference, and that’ll take us to the next level.”

The Cyclones are ranked 84th on Golfweek’s ranking of 227 college teams. As they head into their biggest tournament of the fall so far, they are excited about the chance to improve on their ranking.

“It’s a good field,” Martens said of the upcoming tournament. “It’s a chance for us to show that we should be a dominant force.”