Indiana University Athletics
Incoming Hoosiers Excel In Summer Events
8/18/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
Aug. 18, 2006
Bloomington, Ind. - The three incoming members of the Indiana women's golf team will bring a summer of successful tournament finishes when they report to campus for the upcoming season. Incoming freshmen Laura Nochta, Anita Gahir and Kellye Belcher have combined to win five events and had numerous top-10 finishes throughout the past three months.
Third-year head coach Clint Wallman is counting on the trio to carry this momentum to their deput collegiate campaigns.
Nochta, a Cortland, Ohio native, captured the Northern Ohio PGA sectional qualifier, firing rounds of 73 and 77 to advance to the Junior PGA Championships at Westfield. She missed the cut at the national event. The IU newcomer also finished in second place at the American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) Smithfield Junior Championship with a 54-hole total of 218 (73-74-71) and sixth at the AJGA Memorial with a 219 (72-74-73).
Gahir also saw great success, this time north of the border. The Thornhill, Ont., native captured the title at the Eastern Canadian Kevin Dickey Junior Girls Spring Classic in May after carding rounds of 75 and 78 and followed that up with a women's course-record 68 in the second round of the CN Futures Links Quebec Championship in July. Gahir won that event as well, this time with a 54-hole total of 214 (76-68-70). She also tied for 11th at the Royale Cup National Women's Amatuer Championship after carding a 72-hole total of 300 (77-76-74-73) and took second at the Royale National Junior Girls Championship with a four round total of 295 (72-76-74-73).
Not to be outdone by her counterparts, Belcher, a native of Bartlett, Tenn., won the Exxon BFI Championship in June, finishing with a two-day total of 137 (65-72). That total was a new tournament record, and her 65 in the first round was a new women's course record and also a new one-day tournament best mark. She captured two AJGA titles throughout the summer, taking the Jerry Pate/Andrew Southern Junior Championship in July with a total of 217 (72-73-72) and the David Gossett True Temper in August after carding a 54-hole total of 233 (77-76-80). Belcher closed out her summer competition by winning two matches as Tennessee defeated British Columbia, 5 1/2 to 2 1/2, in the Ruth Eller Cup.
Said Wallman, " I am very excited about Kellye, Anita and Laura joining the Hoosier golf family. All three are proven competitors with success at the national and international levels. I fully expect them to make a big impact on the program when they arrive."
