Backed by a string of victories, the Taylor’s women’s golf team has concluded their fall season ranked No. 15 in the nation.
TU played at an elite level throughout the season, placing first in multiple invitationals and are looking to keep it up in the upcoming spring season to remain a dominant force in the Crossroads League and NAIA.
The Trojans have several standouts on the team, including junior Shayne Lim and freshman Eleanor Schuitema. In her first season, Schuitema has already been named a captain of the squad.
In her third collegiate season, Lim has seen strong bonding between teammates, even though there are differences in age among the players. She believes this bonding has worked to their advantage on the golf course.
“I think we have a lot of potential, we have a lot of talent, so I’m just very excited to see where the spring gets us,” Lim said.
Schuitema said the team has potential and is very skilled. Even when one player wouldn’t play up to their own standard, there would be another team member that was able to pick up the slack when needed.
In her role as captain, Schuitema said she is still learning. She gave credit to junior Margarita Garrido, Lim and others who are constantly improving their game, she said.
“So everyone’s pushing and working hard and getting better, which is awesome and super exciting,” Schuitema said. “Then I think we all really want to encourage each other, and even though we don’t do the best always, we’re all working towards great team dynamics and encouragement.”
This season, both players have set career bests on the course, Lim with a best round of 69, and Schuitema having a personal best of 71.
The Trojans’ golf head coach, Lorne Oke, was optimistic about the current state of the team.
He highlighted the team’s depth and he is very encouraged by the diversity in age on the team.
“You know, we have a good freshman class and a good returning class. That’s the best of both worlds, right?” Oke said.
Coach Oke also highlighted the team’s ability to care for one another and to always give their best on the course.
He also said that with their opponents catching up to them, it makes things fun because now the team has to continue their solid play if they want to continue their dominance.
He is hoping to see a couple of completely dominant performances, where the Trojans are totally unrivaled, in the second half of the year.
“And I’ve said this for a lot of years in a lot of sports, it’s one thing to win a variety of events, and it seems like we’re playing a little bit better than our competition. It’s another thing to stomp some people…” Oke said.
He wants to see a stronger putting game from everyone and for the team to continue to work on starting out a match well and finishing well.
Oke doesn’t think there is anything standing in their way of making a bigger impact at the NAIA National Tournament this year.
Be on the lookout for the Trojans this upcoming spring season, as they improve their game and continue making their presence known on the course.
