Freshman Liz Hanlon led the Belles golf team to an eighth place finish in its first tournament of the year. Host Ferris State finished first out of the 15 teams but the emergence of Hanlon made the weekend a success for the Belles.

"The freshman did exceptionally well," said head coach Theresa Pekarek. Hanlon shot a first round score of 93 and a second round score of 86. Her second round score was the best single round shot for the team in the tournament.

Her overall score was very impressive considering she had never played competitive golf until this weekend. Jennifer Dewitt, also a freshman, shot a 92 on Saturday.

Veterans also contributed as junior Mary Claire Hathaway shot her best round on Saturday with a score of 87. Senior Natalie Cook shot a 90 on Saturday and a 92 on Sunday.

"These scores are something I am very proud of," said Pekarek.

The team has nine members but can only travel with six or seven of them. Pekarek said deciding which players will travel each week be hard and the away roster will probably change from week to week —especially if the freshmen continue to play well.

From what she could tell from this tournament, Pekarek feels that she has a very competitive team with a lot of young as well as veteran potential. After this tournament she can see that there is much room for improvement.

"We need consistency and our putting needs a lot of work," she said.

Pekarek's goal is to get the team able to mentally prepare. If they have a bad hole she wants them to be able to move on and stay focused on each round.

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