The women’s golf team spent its spring break in Las Vegas, where members placed fourth in the Bison Invitational.

The Salukis were led by freshman Amy Lee and senior Shaina Rennegarbe who tied for 12th in the tournament. Lee posted five birdies on Friday alone, which lead to a new career-low two-round 153 score. Head coach Alexis Mihelich said she was impressed with the freshman’s performance.

“Anytime someone goes out and shoots a career best, that’s a highlight,” Mihelich said. “We had some solid rounds out there. We can use this as a jumping-off point for our spring season and head up from here.”

This is Lee’s second consecutive stroke lead Lee has taken in tournaments. She has the third best stroke average among freshman in the Missouri

Valley Conference this season. Lee, a recruit from neighboring state California, said her familiarity with the grass helped her tournament play.

“I felt I played really comfortably,” Lee said. “I’m kind of used to the grass that we played on. The grasses in Illinois and in the west are different, and I think I had a little advantage over most people.”

Lee’s experience with the terrain is understandable since she was a three-time first-team All-Pacific Coast League selection during her high school career in California.

Rennegarbe also found success in Vegas where she posted a 77-76, her best performance this season. She was one stroke better than Lee on the tournament’s second day and led all Salukis with a 76.

The Salukis’ combined scores not only placed them in the top five for the second straight tournament, but they also placed them six spots above any other MVC opponent.

Rennegarbe said the tournaments are a good measure of how the team’s talent compares to the rest of its conference.

“That gives us a lot of confidence,” she said, “Knowing that we can come out and play that well and be out ahead of our conference opponent by that much, it lets us know where we stand and know how hard we have to work to stay there.”

The team has worked hard lately, as it played two tournaments during the span of spring break and will compete in another today. With the stress of the schedule, and the fact they happened to be in Vegas, it’s not hard to imagine the team would take some time to unwind.

However, Rennegarbe said the play on the course came first. “We weren’t really on the strip or anything,” Rennegarbe said.

“While it would be nice to go out and do some crazy stuff like everyone else is doing during spring break, you never want to go out the next day and feel awful and play like it too. Anyone who plays a college sport knows that they have a responsibility for their school and that they are representing their school.”

She said the travel and the past tournaments take a toll on the team, but its play has not been affected.

“Honestly, I’m exhausted,” she said. “I think everyone is pretty tired, but we keep going along, and we got this last tournament and a little break before the next one. It’s definitely rough on us, and we are definitely going to need a break after this one, but it’s really helping our game.”

The Salukis will need to maintain their focus as they travel more than 1,800 miles to Cookeville, Tenn., to participate today in the Bobby Nichols Intercollegiate.