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I would first like to thank The Summit League and Sky Creek
Ranch for hosting the Championship and all of their hard work to create on a
great tournament.
Saturday
We left campus for The Summit League Championship bright and
early with our sights set on our 11th-straight conference
title. Our day consisted of traveling,
practice, and a welcome banquet. This
was our first tournament traveling with the men’s team. I never realized how
much food they ate, their stomachs are like bottomless pits! We grabbed food when we got to the airport,
then the men’s team made a stop at In-N-Out Burger before heading to Sky Creek
Ranch to get a little practice in. I
think our assistant coach, Erik Billinger, was a little jealous that he missed
out on the burgers since there we are without any In-N-Out franchises in Colorado. The men’s team got lucky and got to travel in
style and in first class giving them some much needed extra-leg room. After arriving in Dallas, we traveled to the
course to get a brief, productive practice session in before the nights’
festivities. Following our practice, The
Summit League started off the week with a welcoming banquet. Everyone looked so fancy and dressed up, a
change from our everyday golf clothes and hats was a nice change of pace.
The Associate Commissioner of Administrative Services for The
Summit League, Angie Torain, started off with some brief welcoming’s by
introducing The Summit League Committee and recognizing each team. I would like to thank them for all of their
time and hard work in putting on this tournament. After a delicious dinner and dessert, Angie
presented the first and second-team All-Leaguers. Congratulations to all players who made these
teams and to my teammates for sweeping the first team all-league honors as well
as the Pioneer men’s team.
Sunday
Come Sunday we were ready to put are golf clothes back
on. We played a practice round at 1:30
p.m. giving everyone who wanted time to go to Church on Easter. For me, the late practice round meant a chance
to sleep in and catch up on homework. When
we got to the course, it was a beautiful day--80 degrees and sunny. I know a lot of teams appreciated playing golf
in warm temperatures and with sun for most of the round. The weather took a
turn near the end of the round, getting cloudy and drizzling. When the last hole came around, it was
pouring! We walked the 18th hole with our umbrellas up and our feet splashing
in the puddles. There was a quick dinner
set up for all the teams at the course.
After, we went back to the hotel to get some rest for the first day of
competition.
Monday
The day started at 6:30 a.m. when the alarm went off. Izzy [Southard] and I were rooming together
and were the first two to tee off for the Pioneers. We woke up and went through our normal
routines. We have it down pat now after being roommates the last four
tournaments! After a breakfast at the
hotel, we departed for the course to get the day started. Being in Texas, was a
nice change in pace for all of the teams regarding the nice weather. It was sunny and hot again. After warming up, I headed to the tee to
watch Izzy tee off. Although none of our
parents traveled to the tournament, we did have a few supporters come out and
watch. Beth Kuwata, the Assistant
Athletic Director, came down to Keller, Texas, to watch us compete in the first
round. After much anticipation, it was finally my turn to get the round started. I had the usual first-hole butterflies in my
stomach and an adrenaline rush. It ended
up being a decent round… not my best, but not my worst. After
finishing my first 18-holes, the team and I cheered on the rest of the Pioneers
finishing their round. At the end of the
day, we were leading the tournament and our freshman Mariell [Bruun] finished
with a solid round of even-par and was leading the tournament! To make it a little better the men’s team was
also in the lead by three strokes. After
the round, we got more practice in before it started storming again. We went to a fancy Italian restaurant for
dinner before heading back to the hotel to get another good night of rest.
Tuesday
We have the same tee-times as the first day of the
tournament, an even more sunny day
That night, our Associate Athletic Director at DU, Ron
Grahame, flew in from Denver to watch the final round. We went with Ron and the men’s team for a
nice meal at Chili’s before heading back to the hotel to catch up on some
homework, shared some laughs, then went to bed.
Wednesday
It was here. The final round. We were all excited but knew we still had to
go out, compete, and get the job done.
We all played well, Tonje shooting one under to take the individual lead
and win back-to-back conference titles. I came back today and ended with steady round
of two-under. Our performances were good
enough to win our 11th-straight conference championship. We broke the record with a 71-stroke margin
of victory. Following our excitement and
awards ceremony, we went back out to support the men’s team. They fought back and three of the five
players birdied the 18th hole to win by five-strokes, it was indeed a very
clutch performance. We each brought home
the winning trophy and had some proud coaches.
I’m so proud of my team and can’t wait to take on the teams at the NCAA
Regionals to try and qualify for Nationals.
Go Pioneers!
-Elyse Smidinger
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Don’t forget to check out the next
edition of My Championship Experience as it follows the Men’s and
Women’s Tennis Championships, April 25-27 and throughout the 2013-14 season for
coverage at each of The Summit League Championships.
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