The SIUC women’s golf team has not competed in three weeks, but the team expects to continue the success of the two previous tournaments this weekend.

The Salukis will play at the Lady Rebel Intercollegiate Golf Tournament at University of Mississippi in Oxford, Miss.

SIUC women’s golf coach Diane Daugherty said this is the first time SIUC has competed in this tournament, and she does not know what to expect.

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I would say I am cautiously optimistic, Daugherty said. We have had three weeks off, but I generally like to go south at this time of the year. Last year, we went to Michigan, and we froze.

The Salukis scored a two-day total of 613 in the University of Minnesota Invitational Sept. 14. The team finished third in the tournament and broke the all-time SIUC women’s golf record of 618 strokes set in 1982.

Prior to the Minnesota tournament, the Salukis won the Redbird Classic at Illinois State University in Normal. Three SIUC golfers placed in the top 10, including junior Jami Zimmerman, who earned medalist honors in the tournament.

The Lady Rebel tournament consists of 20 teams, including the University of Mississippi, Arkansas State University, Western Kentucky University and the University of Arkansas.

Daugherty said the most difficult challenge in playing in the tournament is the fact that the Salukis will be competing against teams they have never played before.

Ole Miss will be tough, Daugherty said. We also will be playing schools from Georgia and Texas, and we can expect some low scores from them. But we have to go out and try to do our best because we can’t do anything about them. It is not like we can block their putts. We can only worry about us.

The tournament only has spots for five golfers. The lineup on this trip will include Zimmerman, senior Jamie Smith, senior Stacy Skillman and freshmen Elizabeth Uthoff and Jamie Schmidt.

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Daugherty said she is impressed with the play of the freshmen, who both continue to qualify for the tournaments.

Both of our freshman have contributed to our success, Daugherty said. We are working on Schmidt’s swing and trying to get her to hit the ball farther. But I think she is a mature golfer for being a freshman.

Schmidt said the adjustments in her swing have been difficult, but she is trying to incorporate what she has learned into her game.

She (Daugherty) has done some fine tuning on my swing, Schmidt said. I have been fighting it really bad. Old habits are hard to break especially on a golf swing.

But Schmidt is becoming more accustomed to playing at the college level.

At first I was kind of scared that I would shoot some big scores, Schmidt said. I want to set little goals and try to achieve them.

Schmidt said her first goal was to be able to travel with the team. Now she wants to continue to be a contributor and break her average of 81. But Schmidt and the rest of team are concerned about being inactive for so long.

We did have a few weeks off, Smith said. It is easy to get out of the groove. But we have been working hard to be able to play as well this weekend as we did in the last two (tournaments).

FACTOID:The SIUC women’s golf team will be in Oxford, Miss., this weekend for the Lady Rebel Intercollegiate Golf Tournament.