By Roya Ghorbani-Elizeh
For freshmen Avery Collura and Nick Chianello, the past couple weeks have been filled with new professors, deadlines and textbooks.
However, unlike their peers, both Collura and Chianello have had to make the adjustment from high school to college in both academics and in golf with the women's and men's teams, respectively.
"The first week was tough for me when it came to managing my time," Chianello said. "Now I've found a way to handle it all."
The women's golf team had its season opener at the Bulldog & Eagle Invitational on Sept. 14 and 15 in Spokane. The team placed sixth out of the 14 teams that competed, which included Gonzaga, Montana and Northern Arizona, who took home top honors. The women's team score from the two-day tournament was 935.
Collura, who tied for 12th place in her first collegiate tournament, scored an even par 72 after opening with both a 77 and 79 during the two-day tournament. Collura ended her first collegiate tournament with a score of 228.
"I was a combination of nerves and excitement to play at this level of golf," Collura said. "The tournament was rewarding since the last couple weeks have been so stressful."
The women's team also found top finishers in sophomore McKennon O'Rourke, who placed 19th with a score of 231, and senior Lisa Okazaki, who tied for 32nd place with a combined score of 236.
Okazaki, who has been on the women's golf team for four years, is optimistic about the team's performance for the upcoming year.
"We're looking forward to encouraging each other as a team," Okazaki said. "It's important for us to realize that we're not competitors, we compete together."
Although golfers usually play just for their individual score, collegiate golf combines the scores of the golfers for the team score.
"Our storyline is a little different than basketball or soccer because we keep our scoring averages throughout the season," women's golf Head Coach Michelle Murphy said.
"It's fun to have the team aspect in the end because you are so focused on how the team performs," Collura said.
According to Murphy, goals for the team include two team wins in a tournament and two to three top 10 placements for the individual golfers. Murphy also works with each of the seven golfers on her team to determine personal goals throughout the year.
The men's golf team is now practicing for its first tournament of the season. With 10 golfers on the team, competition is fierce for the five traveling spots the golfers must qualify for to compete in the tournament.
"Qualifying was intense and this time it came down to the end by one shot for someone," senior Thomas Robertson said. "Everyone on the team has the opportunity to play well and to travel with the team."
Robertson believes that the healthy competition for traveling spots will make the team perform better during tournaments. Younger golfers, like freshman Chianello, also share this belief of high hopes for a successful season.
"After reading up on the golf program, I believe this team is one of the best the school has had in awhile," Chianello said. "I feel that if we can be consistent, we will be very successful."
Chianello, who attended Centennial High School, signed a National Letter of Intent last April to play for the UP men's golf team. He would later go on to co-medal for first place in the Oregon School Activities Association (OSAA) 6A Boys Golf State Championships.
The team, who practices four hours a day together every weekday has, according to Robertson, built a good chemistry with one another. Under the guidance of Head Men's Golf Coach Bill Winter, the team hopes to improve scores with each of the nine tournaments they will attend this season.
Both teams will compete next at the Giustina Memorial Intercollegiate Tournament in Corvallis, Ore. on Sept. 28 and 29.
