The Reiver Women were forced to change their game plan at the last minute for the Prairie Wolves Invitational hosted by Nebraska Wesleyan this past weekend. The Reivers were looking to have another strong showing when the 'Flu Bug' hit the team. Leaving just 4 players to compete.
Knowing there might be a possibility of being shorthanded and not finding out until the morning of Day 1, Head Coach Matt Robinson had to implement 'Plan B'. At the last moment, Coach Robinson decided to not play for a team score but rather chose to play the 4 golfers as individuals. "With the new rules for women's golf this year implemented by the NJCAA we couldn't have taken a chance on having our team Rankings be impacted," said Robinson. "With team ranking now factoring into qualifying for the National Championships we have to protect our team scores. Which I don't like to do but that's the nature of how our sport is now."
Even playing as individuals, Iowa Western had a good showing over-all. Getting off to a slow start on Day 1 and having a little putting issue on the green, Freshman Katie Graham was still able to lead the field with a score of 74, followed by Sophomore Luisa Gibson (79), Holly Elliott (85) and Katie Schweers (89).
Day 2 brought a better day on the greens and all the players were able to improve their rounds. The Reivers accounted for 3 out of the 4 best scores for the day. Graham was able to lead wire-to-wire and finish in first place over-all. Gibson improved her position and finished in 3rd place. Elliott recorded her best round ever at Iowa Western and shot a 78 to finish in 6th place. Schweers rounded out the scoring with a 15th place finish.
The women will take the next 2 weeks off. They will return to action Oct. 11th and 12th where they will play in the Creighton Blue Jays invite in Omaha, NE.
