Promising women’s golf start for Central’s Opsal
DIKE— Emily Opsal (senior, Verona, Wis.) fired a 4-over-par 76 in the season debut for the Central College women’s golf team at the first round of the Luther Norse Classic at the Fox Ridge Golf Club Saturday.
She stands third in the individual standings, two shots out of the lead.
Central shot 328 in the 36-hole tourney for fifth place. American Rivers rival the University of Dubuque leads with 317 followed by Wartburg College at 318, Mount Mercy College at 320 and Luther at 324. Central’s second unit, the White team, shot 366 for ninth place in the nine-team tourney.
“That speaks to the depth in the conference this year,” said coach Tim Wilkinson.
Rachael Danielson (sophomore, Jefferson, Greene County HS) shot 83 for the Dutch and is tied for 21st, while freshman Madison Clark (Bloomington, Ill., Central Catholic HS) carded an 84 in her collegiate debut while classmate Delaney Underwood (freshman, Mitchellville, Colfax-Mingo HS) shot 85 as did Lexie Patton (senior, Aurelia, Alta-Aurelia HS).
Wilkinson was not surprised by the showing of Opsal, a co-MVP of last year’s squad and poised to take over the team’s No. 1 position.
“She, obviously, was our lowest qualifier coming in,” Wilkinson said. “I think she feels pretty good about her round.
“The rest of the players can probably identify five or six shots they could easily get back.”
It’s an encouraging start for the two freshmen.
“Madison (Clark) had an 8 on No. 1 but shot 39 on the back (nine),” Wilkinson said, noting that Underwood also scored well except for a lapse over the final four holes.
It’s the first time for staging the Sail Classic at Fox Ridge after several years at Pheasant Ridge Golf Course in Cedar Falls.
“It’s a very fair course,” Wilkinson said. “There are some tricky doglegs but it’s pretty straight-forward. It was in good condition although it was fairly hard. The players were getting a lot of roll.”
The round was played with an occasional light drizzle, but Wilkinson said it had little effect on scores. He’s eager for his squad to improve on its opening-day performance.
“It’s a good start to the season,” he said. “There’s a lot of golf to be played. We just need to focus on getting better.”
