Indiana University Athletics
Q&A With Coach Wallman
9/8/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
Sept. 8, 2005
Clint Wallman, entering his second season at the helm of the Indiana women's golf team, tees off the 2005 fall campaign when the Hoosiers travel to Southbend, Ind., to compete at the Notre Dame Invitational. The linksters will compete for 36 holes on Saturday, before playing the final 18 holes on Sunday. Wallman recently sat down with IUHOOSIERS.com to discuss the upcoming tournament.
What is the feeling about heading into the first tournament of the 2005-06 campaign?
"There is a lot of optimism and enthusiasm heading into this year, with the new players we have as well as the returning experienced players. The girls are working very hard to have a great fall season. The Notre Dame tournament is a great opener for us as it has a nice balance of teams. The girls are playing really well and they are ready to tee it up."
Discuss the five girls on the team who qualified and what you expect out of them.
"I think we have a great group going. Shannon Johnson is going to bring us a lot of depth and consistency. With her background at New Mexico, she is obviously a great player and I look for her to be a key player in not only this tournament, but for the rest of the year. Katie Carlson has a great, great qualifying round. She worked hard all through the summer and that helped her. We have a much deeper roster, so qualifying for tournaments is much harder and she proved herself. Kendal Hake has done a great job. She sat out last spring due to illness, and she worked hard during the summer and really improved in a lot of areas in her game. I look for her to have a great tournament this weekend. Amber Lindgren she was a great junior player and she has all the tools to play really well. Elaine Harris matured so much that it has been fun to watch. She plays a lot harder and is much more confident in her game. I think there is natural optimism because we have people who earned their way in qualifying and pushed each other. That is always something that carries into tournaments."
How is the team chemistry this season?
"Well, we have a brand new environment. We have five players returning and five players coming in. They have really meshed well together. It's a unique situation because of our five newcomers, one is a graduate student, a junior and three freshmen, so we have a real range of people that are getting together. They are supportive of each other, they have worked hard, they have pushed one another and I think the chemistry of this group is special."
What is the quality of this tournament and what are your expectations?
"I think this is a great tournament for us to start the year out. Notre Dame is a great team who has reached the Regionals the last couple of years. I think it is an outstanding way for us to start because it is not a super deep field, but it's a good way for us to get our feet wet and it's also a great way for us to get to know each other a little better. We are playing on a great golf course and in a good field. I look for us to have a really good tournament."
How will the golf course play?
"The Warren Golf Course is a great golf course. It is extremely fair, so what you see is what you get. The keys to the golf course is hitting fairways and hitting greens. The greens have a lot of subtle breaks and the grass around the green is pretty long, so it is hard to chip out of. The girls we have going are consistent about that. Shannon, Amber and Elaine are very strong at hitting greens, while Katie and Kendal have both improved their statistics from last year. That is something we will need to do in order to be successful in the tournament."
