Nov. 8, 2010

The UNI men’s and women’s golf teams held their own this fall and continued to play well. The golf program added 14 new players this year and both teams had solid efforts this fall.

This fall both teams had many chances to play against highly-ranked teams in the MVC. Currently the men are ranked third and have beaten Missouri State, who is currently ranked first, the two times they have faced them. This sets up the Panther men for a very good chance in the spring for the MVC Championship.

“We must get better in the short game and get everyone consistent with their games and scores,” head coach John Bermel said. There was also a great deal of improvement this fall in the five meets they participated in. The younger players stepped up and the older players improved. One of those younger players that stepped up was freshman Kyle Beversdorf, who had the low stroke average of 74.25 this fall. Another freshman who did well was Michael Wetrich who had a stroke average of 76.25 and a season-best round of 70 at the Air Force Invitational.

The women’s team is currently ranked fifth in the MVC. It was the three juniors; Brittany Atterbury, Blair Bonner, and Katie Tabbert who proved they could take a low round at any tournament or any round. Also some of the younger players got to see some action and held their own when it came time to chip in to the team score. Katie Tabbert received MVC player of the week this fall posting rounds of 73, 74, and 81 at the Heather Farr/CU Memorial Tournament. The top individual placement for the Panther in the MVC rankings is Blair Bonner in ninth place. Blair holds the low stroke average for the team with 78.31 and posted her best round of 72 at the Illinois State Invitational.

Once spring comes around both teams look to become more comfortable and confident with their golf swings. The other main focus will be working on the short game and raising each teams MVC ranking for a chance to compete for the championship.