The men’s and women’s golf teams are loading up on hard work and cutting down on strokes as their RMAC championship aspirations for the spring continue to grow. CMU had four women golfers place in the top 20 and finished second as a team in the second RMAC invitational at Spearfish Country Club in Spearfish, S.D.

The Mavericks scored 657, shooting 34 strokes behind CSU-Pueblo. Junior Sara Swaney tied for sixth with a final score of 161, and senior transfer Loren Forney tied for eighth with 162. Freshman Taylor Walters shot 166 to secure 14th, and sophomore Zoe Woodworth finished 19th with 168 strokes.

“Fall season is almost over, and it has been a good indicator of what we can do,” Forney said. “I think we have a good chance at putting up some low numbers in the spring and winning the RMAC Conference.”

CSU-Pueblo’s Hee-Leina Kim won the individual event, shooting six-over for a 148.

On the men’s side, freshman Colin Prater shot five-under to place 13th with a 211, helping the Mavericks finish eighth in the Ryan Palmer Foundation Invitational at Tascosa Golf Club in Amarillo, Texas.

Prater and junior Sean Robbins will push each other throughout the year to make the team stronger. Robbins tied for 22nd with 214 total strokes, while Adam Griffith was 38th with 218 and Trenton Schwehr was 47th with 220.

Collegiate golf is a team game, but each golfer must perform well individually to ensure success as a team.

Forney, a transfer from Portland State, said she likes to focus on patience and confidence heading in to a match.

“I believe in the possibility of being able to birdie every hole on the golf course, which corresponds with confidence, but being able to concentrate on every shot to have a chance at a birdie takes patience,” Forney said.

Forney also alluded to her experience at the division one collegiate level and how it might help the team perform.

“Already having the experience of playing division one golf, I think it is really important to just have fun and not get caught up in the stress and pressure college athletics may have,” Forney said. “It really just comes down to trusting what I already know and feeling comfortable over the ball in order to improve.”

scschroc@mavs.coloradomesa.edu