The Kent State women’s golf team looks to continue its fall season first-place three-peat as it kicks off its spring season Monday, Feb. 8.

The season starts with the Mid-American Match Play Challenge, a MAC conference tournament.

The Flashes will send five players to Bradenton, Florida: seniors Amira Alexander, Josée Doyon and Taylor Kim, and freshmn Michaela Finn and junior Wad Phaewchimplee.  

Doyon said she is looking forward to the start of the spring season, as she did not play as well as she hoped in the fall season.

“I wasn’t playing my best golf but managed to get good scores,” Doyon said.

The senior golfer placed fourth at the Mercedes Benz Classic with a final score of two-under during the fall 2015 season.

Doyon was named 2015 MAC Women’s Golfer of the Year following her victory at the MAC conference championship.  She has been on the team since 2012. 

“It’s been really fun,” Doyon said. “We help each other a lot and grow together as a team.”

Finn said she is excited for the start of the spring season because match play is her favorite tournament style.

“I always love match play,” Finn said. “I can play more aggressive golf rather than mental.”

Finn is the only freshman among a group of seniors competing in the Mid-American Match Play, but she said she does not feel less experienced than the seniors, as the ones who play the best get to compete. 

“I don’t feel any different from a senior,” Finn said. “The ball and the clubs are what says who plays.”

The players are chosen based on round play, and whoever comes out on top secures a spot. Coach Greg Robertson decides who else gets to play in the tournament.

Doyon and Finn use similar tactics to prepare for tournaments, including listening to music and spending time with other teammates. Both golfers also create stroke savers, or notes that allow them to get a feel for the course before tournament play. 

“I look at online maps of the courses,” Doyon said. “I study them beforehand, and I sketch the courses in a small notebook.”       

Stroke savers allow players to calculate where hazards are on the course so they know what areas to avoid and where they want to be on the course. 

Robertson said he did not change anything he did from last season because his team was successful in ending the fall season with three straight wins.

“All we have to do is carry over what we did in the fall season,” Robertson said. “There’s no need to reinvent the wheel.”

Eric Conway is the golf reporter for the Kent Stater. Contact him at [email protected].