Golf Recap

2011 Fall Recap

Following the graduation of two MIAA Most Valuable Golfers - one of them a two-time All-American - the Saint Mary's golf team knew they would have some work to fill that void. The roster became even smaller after several players chose to make the most of their college years and overall Division III experience by studying abroad in the fall, leaving the team with just five players throughout most of the 2011 fall season.

After opening the season against cross-town rival Bethel, the Belles hosted their third annual O'Brien National Invitational, which features the best teams in Division III each fall. The 338 posted on the first of the two-day event would be one of the best scores of the fall for the Belles.

Of the four MIAA jamborees of the season, Saint Mary’s finished in second place twice and third place twice while averaging just below a 343 in those league competitions. The Belles then finished in third on both days of the season-ending MIAA Tournament at Bedford Valley. During those two days, the team posted back-to-back 337s for their lowest rounds of the fall 2011 season.

From the DePauw Small College Classic through the end of the season, seniors Natalie Matuszak and Christine Brown helped lead the team's charge late to ensure a chance to play for the conference’s automatic qualifying bid for the NCAA tournament in the spring.

Matuszak turned in the team’s lowest score in each of the last four rounds of the fall while sharing team low-round honors with Brown at DePauw. The senior All-American earned All-MIAA First Team honors for the second time in her career after shooting rounds of 76, 77, and 82 in the final three days of competition. Brown, meanwhile, opened up the MIAA season with an 80 for the best conference round of her career. The senior added an 85, a pair of 84s, and an 82 on her way to All-MIAA Second Team honors.

The Belles will have a clean slate entering the MIAA Spring NCAA Qualifying rounds. The top four teams in the league - Olivet, Hope, Saint Mary's, and Calvin - will contend for the conference's automatic qualifying bid to the national tournament next spring with Hope hosting one of three rounds and fall MIAA champion Olivet hosting the other two rounds. The team with the lowest cumulative score from those three rounds will receive the conference's AQ to the 2012 Division III Women's Golf Championship.