Although both the men's and women's golf teams have gotten off to a rough start, they remain hopeful toward the development of their program over the season.
In their first tournament of the season, the women's team competed in the Fresno State Lexus Classic March 1 and 2 and placed 13th out of 14 teams.
The men's team competed in their first tournament hosted by Washington State University and finished 9th out of 13 teams, 47 strokes behind first place.
Head coach Don Rasmussen is proud of the team's effort and their victory over Gonzaga University.
"We need to make sure we're competitive against Northwest schools," Rasmussen said.
Rasmussen, a Class A member of the Professional Golfer's Association and longtime golf coach, is focusing on improving the athletes. He explained that when Seattle University was a Division I school 29 years ago, golf was one of the most successful programs. He believes the transition back to D-I has allowed the program to renew itself. Starting from scratch last year, Rasmussen has continued to work with local businesses in providing the team a place to practice.
Last season was fairly rough for the team, with the men losing all their matches and ranking ninth out of eleven teams in one tournament. The women won one match and finished in last at both Western Washington University and the St. Martin's University golf invitational.
Since this is only the second year the team has been back in action at Seattle U, Rasmussen plans to develop his current players and actively recruit experienced players from other schools. Graced with a few transfers, Rasmussen hopes to have the more experienced players guide the new ones.
He says this season's players to watch on the men's team are transfers Ian Dahl, sophomore history major, and Chris Holway, sophomore liberal studies major. On the women's team, he names Shannon Quinn, freshman biochemistry major, Caitlin McCleary, sophomore civil engineering major, and Lana Cox, junior finance and accounting major, for the success they've brought to the program so far.
This season's schedule is much more challenging than in the past and has a wider variety of schools from around the country rather than just the Northwest. While the competition will be rough, Rasmussen remains positive on the outlook of the season.
"Every time we go to a tournament, we accomplish something and continue to grow and improve the program," Rasmussen said.
The men will compete next in the California State University - Bakersfield invitational March 22 and 23 in Bakersfield, Calif. The women will be participating in the Dr. Donnis Thompson Invitational in Kane'ohe, Hawaii March 15 and 16.
Kat may be reached at acatlett@su-spectator.com
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