The Ball State University women's golf team entered the Purdue Ladies Midwest Shootout coming off of a performance in Columbus that left something to be desired.
Wet weather mixed with cold temperatures in Columbus and gusting winds inflated scores across the board throughout the weekend.
This week was a different story for Ball State.
The Cardinals managed a 315-309-624 to finish third in a field that contained three ranked teams, beating No. 9 Purdue University, and finishing behind No. 23 Kent State University (610) and No. 20 Vanderbilt University (615).
Coach Katherine Mowat said she was extremely impressed with her team's performance.
"We proved to ourselves that we can play a tough course against tough competition," Mowat said. "I was telling my team Saturday that with the conditions we played in, as well as the length of the course, that our play was some of the best golf we have played."
The Cardinals put six golfers on the course on Saturday, and four of the six finished in the top 20 individually. Sophomore Brittany Kelly led the team with a sixth-place finish with a 79-73-152.
Freshman Kristtini Cain tied for seventh one stroke behind Kelly. Sophomore Rachael Pruett finished 12th with a 158, while Junior Kirsty O'Connor finished in a tie for 20th at 161.
The Cardinals couldn't have asked for a much better tune-up one for their last tournament before the MAC Championship on April 24. The team played its best golf of the season with two weeks to prepare for its final tournament.
"I think we are in a maintenance mode right now," Mowat said. "We have done the preparation work. It's more just maintaining the play and confidence now."
Mowat was quick to say that maintenance doesn't mean that there will not be improvement.
"Certainly there are things we can focus on individually to fine tune different aspects of their game," Mowat said, "but we will pay a lot of attention to the mental side of the game to make sure that everyone is in the right zone and in the right frame of mind entering conference competition."
With the third-place finish this weekend, the Cardinals have now placed fourth or higher in five out of their six tournaments played in the Midwest this academic year.
The MAC Championship will be in Nashport, Ohio, at the end of the month.
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