Idaho women’s golf team to play at nearby Cougar Cup
The Idaho women’s golf team will play its only home — or at least close to home — invitational Monday and Tuesday at Palouse Ridge Golf Club in Pullman. Nine teams, including Idaho, will compete in the Washington State Cougar Cup.
“It feels much more laid back,” Idaho coach Lisa Johnson said of the opportunity to play close to home. “It feels more like an event that they would play in the summer, because they have more freedom, kind of show up at the course when they want, prepare how they want, eat what they want in the evenings.”
Nathan Romans | Argonaut
Senior Kaitlyn Oster lines up a putt during practice Thursday, Sept. 11 at Palouse Ridge Golf Course in Pullman. Oster finished 32nd at the Colonel Wollenberg Ptarmigan Ram Classic hosted by Colorado State University. The Vandals will play in Pullman at Palouse Ridge Monday Sept. 22 and Tuesday, Sept. 23 in the WSU Cougar Cup.
Idaho is coming off an 11th-place finish at the Colonel Wollenberg Ptarmigan Ram Classic Sept. 8 and 9 in Fort Collins, Colorado.
Junior Kristin Strankman is confident heading into the Cougar Cup.
“I think we can win as a team,” Strankman said. “We feel really comfortable there. That would be I think the best-case scenario, but obviously any one of us can win individually because we all feel really comfortable out there.”
The Vandals will definitely have course experience in their favor as they usually practice at Palouse Ridge a couple times a week. They have been out in Pullman more lately to prepare for the event.
“We know the greens really well,” Strankman said. “It’s a tough golf course if you’ve never seen it before. We just feel really comfortable out there and I think it will be fun. I’m looking forward to it.”
In addition to the home course advantage, Strankman is also looking forward to seeing all of her teammates compete.
“Usually, we just take five but all eight of us get to play, and a lot of the families are coming into town, so that’s nice,” she said. “It just feels a lot more comfortable to stay in your apartment, stay in the dorms or whatever and just eat dinner here.”
Strankman said there will still be a starting five for Idaho, but there will also be three others who will play individually. The individuals still have the opportunity to win the tournament, but their scores don’t count toward Idaho’s team score.
Johnson said she hasn’t decided yet if she is going to change her starting lineup from the Ram Classic. She said Leilanie Kim, Kaitlyn Oster and Strankman will make up three of the starting five, and she will probably know by Friday or Saturday who will fill the remaining spots.
Kim shot the best score out of the five players that competed at the Ram Classic. Her 2-over-par 218-stroke performance earned her a tie for ninth place individually. She was also named Big Sky Golfer of the Week along with Weber State’s Kaceelyn Pouttu.
Oster and Strankman shot the next best on the team with scores of 226.
“She (Strankman) is by far the most improved player from last year to this year,” Johnson said. “Her mental game’s better, her ball striking’s really good right now … She’s putting a good two strokes better per round.”
As a team, Johnson said the Vandals have improved their putting since the Ram Classic and have worked on wedge play.
Idaho and host Washington State are expected to compete against BYU, Portland State, Eastern Washington, Montana State, Sacramento State, Montana and Seattle at the Cougar Cup.
Garrett Cabeza can be reached at [email protected]