The women’s golf team rounded out the fall season with an eighth-place finish at the Ross Resorts Invitational hosted by Rollins College.

Freshman Morgan Fitts had the lowest finish for the Jacks, tied for 27th with a three-round score of 240.

Although the team carded high scores throughout the tournament, head coach Jared Baszler said his girls “didn’t play bad.

“We just had some bad stretches of holes,” Baszler said. “The epitome of the weekend was Morgan going out on Oct. 27 and shooting 3-under through six holes, then shooting 12-over on her last 12 holes.”

Host Rollins College captured the team title by seven strokes with an 897, while Nova Southeastern University’s Sandra Changkija fired a 4-under – the event’s only score under par – to claim the individual win.

Junior Sydney Sturdevant tallied a pair of uncommon 80-plus rounds, which Baszler attributed to her putter.

“She hit the ball well, but her putter let her down big time,” Baszler said. “When your putter leaves you, it doesn’t matter how well you’re hitting, you won’t put up a good score.”

The Sioux Falls native tied for 36th with a 244 three-day total. Junior Whitney Schrader opened the tournament with back-to-back rounds of 79 before shooting a final-round 85 to finish with a 243 to tie for 34th.

Sophomore Rebecca Swords tied for 38th with a score of 248, while Brittany Hanten shot a 252 to finish 50th.

“It’s kind of hard to put a finger on one thing, but I think it came down to us making too many double-bogeys,” Baszler said. “It was a tough course, but that’s no excuse because it’s the same for everybody.”

Even though the girls set school records, lowered the team scoring average and exceeded Baszler’s fall expectations, the head coach said the women’s team still has work to do heading into the spring season.

“It’s exciting to set school records – and we can’t complain about that – but we’ve still got work to do,” Baszler said. “When I look at the leaderboard, we’re still not where I want to be.

“We just need to manage our bad rounds a little better. There’s not any secret on how to do that; we just need to get it done.”

Both the men’s and women’s teams will resume play in the spring by hosting the inaugural Jackrabbit Invitational on March 15 to 16 in Primm, Nev.

After back-to-back weeks of record-setting golf, the SDSU women’s golf team cooled off with a 12th-place finish at the Hawkeye Intercollegiate hosted by Iowa.

Conditions weren’t perfect for the Jacks, as coach Jared Baszler cited frost delays and difficult greens along with the weather being “extremely cold.”

“The weather conditions were far from ideal,” Baszler said. “I don’t like to use that as an excuse, but that usually has something to do with it. That golf course has never treated us well either.”

Junior Sydney Sturdevant anchored the Jacks, as she has all season, with a 239 and tied for 33rd. Sturdevant leads the team with a 78.42 scoring average and has the team’s only Top-10 finish this season.

“It’s not a big surprise, she led the scoring average last year,” Baszler said. “She’s not the type of girl that’s going to go out and shoot a 74 one round and 85 the next. She’s able to manage her bad rounds better than other people.”

Junior Whitney Schrader tied for 39th with a 241, Brittany Hanten tied for 48th with a 244, and freshman Morgan Fitts shot a 249 to finish tied for 58th.

Sophomore Rebecca Swords struggled, tying for 70th with a 260 and junior Abby Feehan competed as an individual, finishing tied for 73rd with a 268.

“We had some girls playing decent, but we’ve got to have everyone playing well at the same time,” Baszler said. “We had that the last couple weeks, but we just didn’t have it this week.”

Missouri State claimed the team title with a three round total of 914.

With one event left on the Fall schedule, Baszler says he’s pretty happy with the level of play from his girls.

“The girls showed a lot of improvement from last year,” Baszler said. “They were much more consistent this year and I believe their scoring average was down a few strokes. This fall was a good building block for us going into the spring.”

The Jacks will close out the Fall with the Ross Resorts Invitational in Southern Pines, N.C., on Oct. 26-27.

The men’s golf team finished their 2008 fall campaign by finishing 10th out of 12 teams at the Bill Ross Intercollegiate hosted by UMKC.

Coach Jared Baszler brought three freshmen including Parker Edens, David Smith and Kyle Cooper who finished tied for 19th with a three day total of 227.

Smith’s 239 total tied him for 56th along with teammate Nolan Meyer, while Edens shot a 244 – good enough for 62nd.

Senior Justin Jenkins carded a 229 – tied for 27th – and has been the most consistent Jacks golfer.

“Without a doubt, he’s been our top player,” Baszler said. “He’s got the best scoring average so far and has traveled to every tournament.”

Even though they struggled in the first round, shooting a 322 team total, the Jacks notched a moral victory, edging D-I school Kansas University in the final round by six strokes.

“The course was pretty difficult this week,” Baszler said. “But beating Kansas was an accomplishment in and of itself. I’m coming away from this tournament feeling a lot better that I have from others.”

The Jacks will have nearly five months to prepare for the inaugural Jackrabbit Invitational on March 15-16 in Primm, Nev.

The Jackrabbits’ second-round struggles continued as the men’s golf team fell from fourth to finish in 10th place at the rain-shortened Cleveland State Invitational.

SDSU squandered a solid first round to shoot a 637, 39 strokes back of tournament winner and NAIA powerhouse Malone College.

Justin Lower finished in first with a two-day total of 148 for Malone College – who notched their first team title at a Division I event.

As for the Jacks, it was a tale of two rounds.

After shooting a first-round 308 – good enough for fourth – Baszler’s squad carded a 329 in the second, before the tournament was called due to rain.

“We were pretty happy with our first-round score, considering we were in fourth place and not too far from second,” Baszler said. “The second round was a really long and windy day. Our inexperience really showed once again.”

Baszler said he’s disappointed with his team’s finish, but hopefully the team can build on the promise they showed in the opening round.

One of the few bright spots for the Jacks was senior Justin Jenkins, who tied for 17th with a two-day total of 155 (79-76).

“Seeing Justin finish in the top-20 is always good,” Baszler said “He played really well the second round, whereas everybody else just fell apart.”

The head coach attributed his team’s poor second-round scores to “big numbers” and inexperience.

“We had a couple guys in the top-15 in birdies made for the two rounds, which should correlate into a good team score,” Baszler said. “But when you make double and triple bogies outside of those birdie holes, it’s going to severely affect it.

“I’ve learned in my seven years of coaching that those big numbers come from inexperience.”

Sophomore Nolan Meyer finished just two strokes behind Jenkins and tied for 26th with 157 total.

Sophomore Brian Wynia tallied a 162 to finish tied for 44th, while freshman Parker Edens shot a 163 to tie for 49th.

Baszler said that his players need to start making his decision easier by showing up on the course and being more mentally prepared.

“We’ve got 10 guys on our roster and right now it’s hard to pick five,” Baszler said. “I told the seniors I’m not going to keep taking them just because they’re seniors. They’re going to have to go out and qualify just like the rest of them.”

Of the seniors routinely taken for trips, Kyle Vandevoort continued to struggle, finishing 66th with a 172 total over two rounds.

“Being a senior, he needs to show better leadership,” Baszler said. “On tough, windy days like the one we had, he starts worrying about the weather conditions more than his golf game.”

The SDSU men will have next week off before traveling to Normal, Ill. on Oct. 11 for the D.A. Weibring Intercollegiate, hosted by Illinois State University.

A rough first round hindered the men’s golf team, who finished last with a score of 641 at the Jim Colbert Invitational hosted by Kansas State.

“When we struggle, we tend to make that day and that course a lot harder than it really is,” coach Jared Baszler said. “It was really frustrating.”

The men had trouble keeping the ball on the course early, posting a first round 338 before closing out with a 303 on Sept. 22.

“The first day was unfortunately one of those days,” Baszler said. “It wasn’t any one thing, we just had a lot of high numbers.”

Freshman Parker Edens led SDSU with a two-day total of 156 – which tied him for 29th overall. Freshman David Smith shot a team-high 92 on Sept. 21.

“David played poorly the first round,” Baszler said. “It’s part of growing as a golf program and part of being young and having two seniors that played poorly as well on Monday.”

Smith, who finished tied for 51st, rebounded with a second-round 76 on Tuesday, but the men still finished 72 strokes back of tournament-winner Kansas State.

“Our inexperience showed on a tough golf course,” Baszler said. “I think it had a lot to do with the short game. That’s usually what it comes down to when you’re playing poorly.

“If you’re having trouble chipping and putting, then you’re not going to score well-regardless of how well you’re striking the ball.”

Senior Kyle Vandevoort shot a first round 87, but recovered with a 77 on Sept. 22 to finish tied for 45th.Sophomore Nolan Meyer tied for 42nd with a 162, while senior Justin Jenkins rallied from a first-round 89 to shoot a 165 and tie for 49th. Brian Wynia tied for 33rd with a 157.

Baszler hopes that his men’s team can turn things around next weekend at the Cleveland State Invitational in Avon, Ohio.

“We’ve always played well at Cleveland State,” Baszler said. “We like that golf course.”

The women’s golf team tied for eighth at the Payne Stewart Memorial – breaking the school record for lowest 54-hole team by four strokes with a 941 total.

“They responded very well from their play last week,” head coach Jared Baszler said. “It’s a great accomplishment for them and hopefully a testament for what’s to come.”

The Jacks tied with Oklahoma City University.

Junior Sydney Sturdevant notched a top-10 finish, shooting rounds of 81, 73 and 75 to tie for ninth.

“Anytime you can have someone finish in the top 10, it’s an accomplishment,” Baszler said. “You need (top-10s and top-15s) to balance out the team score. If we can have two or three girls in the 70s, that’s going to help our team score tremendously.”

After rain postponed play on Monday, the Jacks surged on Tuesday with a 311 second round and a 312 in the third.

“Their second and third round scores are what I feel they’re capable of,” Baszler said. “I think we’ve got the talent on the girls’ side to do that.”

Sophomore Rebecca Swords finished five strokes back of Sturdevant with a 234 – tying Swords for 25th. Freshman Morgan Fitts posted a three-round total of 236 that Baszler described as “solid.”

“She came out of the gates and shot a 75, then put up a couple decent rounds. I was happy with the way she played.” Baszler added.

Sophomore Brittany Hanten fought off a first-round 84 and shot back-to-back 79s to tie for 45th place.Junior Whitney Schrader finished 72nd with a 255 total.

Besides the new record, Baszler was pleased the team found success in a field similar to last week’s and against UMKC – the only conference school in the tournament.

The Jacks return to action on Oct. 9 at the Xavier International at LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Fla.

Freshman David Smith’s collegiate debut was one of few bright spots for the Jackrabbit men’s golf team that finished 11th with a two-day total of 908 at the Fairway Club Invitational.

The Minnesota native led the Jacks, playing as an individual, and finished tied for 14th with a three-round total of 218 (+2).

“David was definitely the biggest surprise of the weekend,” head coach Jared Baszler said.

The men’s team struggled, posting a two-day total of 908, 56 strokes back of Drake University who shot a third-round 290 to claim the Nebraska tournament victory. The Bulldogs’ Cody Schweinefus took first place with a score of 207 (-9).

“We had two days of absolutely perfect weather,” Baszler said. “We just didn’t take advantage of it, and everyone else did. That’s what it boils down to.”

Adding to the Jackrabbit woes was the loss of senior Kyle Vandevoort early in the tournament. Vandevoort had to withdraw in the first round after spraining his ankle walking off the tee box on the fifth hole.

“That really hurt us, obviously,” Baszler said. “We’re going to have the trainer look at it on Wednesday. I’d say he’s hopeful for next week, but it’s hard to say at this point.”

Baszler added that even though Smith was playing in the tournament, he was unable to be substituted for Vandevoort because the lineup could not be changed, regardless of the situation.

Sophomore Nolan Meyer and freshman Parker Edens cracked the top-25 for the Jackrabbits, both shooting a 221 (+5), but it was Eden’s opening and closing rounds that impressed Baszler.

“It was good to see Parker play well,” Baszler said. “He had a shaky second round, but his first and third rounds were great.”

Senior Justin Jenkins and Brian Wynia rounded out the Jacks’ team play with three-day totals of 226 (+10) and 240 (+24), respectively.

The men’s team will look to rebound, with or without Vandevoort, at the Jim Colbert Intercollegiate on September 21 to 22 in Manhattan, Kan. The event will be hosted by Kansas State.

The Jackrabbit women’s team struggled with inconsistency during the Chip-n-Club Invitational in Nebraska, finishing 13th out of 14 teams with a two-day score of 959 (+95).

“The first round really killed us,” head coach Jared Baszler said. “We played much better the second round. I think that’s what we’re capable of – and then some.”

Leading the Jacks was Brittany Hanten, who finished with a career-low total of 237 (+21), notching second and third-round 78′s – also career lows.

“It was good to see Brittany put three solid rounds together,” Baszler said. “We counted her score every round, and that’s not something we could have said last year.”

Hanten was the only Jackrabbit in the top-50, unlike tournament winner Missouri, who had three golfers finish tied for 4th with totals of 217 (+1).

However, it was North Dakota State’s Amy Anderson’s 210 (-6) that clinched first place.

Freshman Morgan Fitts finished tied for 61st with a three-round total of 242 (+26) in her first collegiate appearance.

“For it being her first tournament as a freshman, Morgan didn’t waste her opportunities,” Baszler said.

Rebecca Swords tied for 52nd with a 54-hole career-low 239 (+23), while junior Sydney Sturdevant scored a 241 (+25), finishing 60th in the tournament.

Juniors Abby Freehan and Whitney Schrader rounded out the Jack’s scorecard with a 255 (+39) and 256 (+40) respectively.

The women’s team, whose score tied for fifth-best in school history, will attempt to correct its inconsistency issues at the Payne Stewart Memorial on September 21 to 22 in Springfield, Mo.

After losing strong senior play from both the men’s and women’s golf teams, head coach Jared Baszler expects both Jackrabbit squads to contend, despite the youth and lack of experience.

“I don’t think we’re going to fall off the face of the earth by any means,” Baszler said of his men’s team. “Obviously we’ve got some huge shoes to fill, but we’ve got four good freshmen coming in. I’d really like to see us contend in at least one tournament this year just to give us a feel of what it’s like.”

Returning from the 2008-09 Jacks – a team that notched the first four Division-I wins in school history – are seniors Justin Jenkins and Kyle Vandevoort. The pair of perennial top-five players will be looked to in order to provide leadership and guidance for the younger men’s team.

Baszler says he intends to take more than five guys to most of the tournaments this fall in hopes of his team getting more experience before the conference tournament in the spring.

“We’re gearing up to get some kids some experience,” Baszler said. “Anything can happen at the conference tournament. I’m really interested to see how the season plays out.”

Piquing the interest of most SDSU golf enthusiasts is freshman David Smith. The Tucson, Ariz. qualified for a pair of USGA Amateur events over the summer – including the U.S. Amateur Public Links and missing the cuts by six strokes at the U.S. Amateur.

“He’s definitely the freshman that everyone’s excited about, considering what he did this summer. I hope he can keep it rolling,” Baszler said. “Every freshman responds to college a little bit differently, especially the way golf goes. I’m guessing he’ll be just fine.”

On the women’s side, the Jacks are hoping to nix the problems they had with inconsistency last season.

“All the girls that are playing this year also played last year, so they’re going to have a year under their belt,” Baszler said. “I’m hoping that they’re going to be a little more acclimated to the college golf scene.”

While Baszler knows he can’t replace the leadership he lost in Amanda Rosol and Holly Opatz, the seventh-year coach thinks that incoming freshman Morgan Fitts should provide some stability for a women’s team that doesn’t have a senior on its roster.

“I’m willing to bet that Morgan is going to be able to make the top five pretty easily,” Baszler said.

Following their fall schedule, the SDSU will be hosting its own event in the spring – the Jackrabbit Invitational in Primm, Nev.

“We’re really excited about it. It’s something we’ve wanted to do for quite some time,” Baszler said. “The nice thing is that we’re going to be able to take every player on our roster, not just the top five or six. I’m guessing it’s going to be a little Brookings away from Brookings.”

Both teams will tee off their season with events hosted by Nebraska on Sept. 14 to 15 – the men’s team at Fairway Club Invitational and the women’s at the Chip-n-Club Invitational.