Idaho golf teams have formula for success
It’s almost March, which means college golf has begun.
It’s the time of year when the Idaho men’s and women’s golf teams get to travel south every couple of weeks to compete in an invitational and enjoy nice weather. Both the Idaho men’s and women’s teams were preseason favorites to win the Big Sky Championship, according to the Big Sky Preseason Coaches’ Poll.
Garret Cabeza
So far, each team has lived up to the hype by having successful first tournaments this spring.
The Idaho men’s team took ninth out of 24 teams at the Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate last weekend in Palm Desert, California. The field included current No. 2 ranked Oregon and No. 19 Texas Tech.
A tough TCU team won the event, but Idaho held its own, with sophomore Jared du Toit tying for 10th and senior Aaron Cockerill tying for 23rd out of 128 golfers.
The Idaho women’s team won the Texas State-hosted Delta Gamma Challenge in New Braunfels, Texas, which took place Feb.15-16.
Senior Leilanie Kim was one stroke from tying for first with three other golfers and junior Kristin Strankman was two strokes from the winners.
With the first events out of the way, expect both teams to improve at their upcoming tournaments. The men’s team now heads east to compete at the Cleveland Golf Palmetto March 9-10 in Aiken, South Carolina, and the women’s team will head to Honolulu to play in the Dr. Donnis Thompson Invitational March 10-11.
Both teams have what it takes to win the Big Sky. They both have a superstar, with du Toit on the men’s side and Kim on the women’s side.
In fact, du Toit and Kim have already each been named Big Sky Conference Golfer of the Week this season for their first performances of the spring.
Du Toit already has impressive accolades, and he is only in his sophomore season. In his freshman campaign, he earned first-team All-WAC and WAC Freshman of the Year honors. He puts up consistent scores and can compete with any golfer in the country. Kim won the 2014 WAC Championship and will try to do the same in the Big Sky. But neither team is successful just because of one good player. They both have a good supporting cast around their superstars.
The men have some talented underclassmen besides du Toit. Sophomore Ryan Porch and freshman Daniel Sutton were among the starting five who competed at the Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate to open up the season. Porch finished third at the WAC Championship as a freshman.
Cockerill will be a huge contributor this season as he already placed well in the first event of the spring. He was a first-team All-WAC selection last season.
Junior Rylee Iacolucci should also make an impact this season. He struggled at the Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate, but he made second-team All-WAC last season for a reason.
Freshman Ian Kim and junior Scott Riley may also work their way into the starting lineup at some point this season.
While the men’s team may rely more on its underclassmen, the women’s team relies more on its experienced players. Senior Kaitlyn Oster and Strankman should be big factors this spring like they were in the fall season. Sophomore Amy Hasenoehrl and freshman Kendall Gray will also make contributions this spring.
As long as the teams stay healthy and continue to improve, there’s no reason why they can’t be Big Sky champs in April.
Garrett Cabeza can be reached at [email protected]