After spring break matches in surprisingly blustery Southern California, the Whitman men’s and women’s golf teams returned to the Pacific Northwest  for the Northern Colleges Spring Tournament Saturday, April 3, at Apple Tree Golf Course in Yakima, Wash.

Both Pacific Lutheran University and the University of Puget Sound’s teams could not make the tournament due to inclement weather conditions on Snoqualmie Pass. As a result the tournament turned into a dual match between the Missionaries and Whitworth University.

At the end of the day the Pirates took home the hardware as the Whitworth men recorded a team score of 314, good enough for a 13-stroke victory over the Missionaries. The Lady Pirates ran away with the match as they defeated the Whitman women by a whopping 47 strokes, 340-387.

For the men, Saturday’s highlight was the performance of first-year Drew Raher, who fired a season-best 78.

“He has a ton of potential, and he shot the low score on our team,” said senior Steve Campbell. “We were all pumped for him.”

Unfortunately for Whitman, Raher’s effort was one of the few bright spots of the day as the rest of the team struggled in tough weather conditions. Sophomore John Abercrombie, first-year Peter Clark and Campbell all shot 83, leading the Missionaries to a team score of 327.

“I think it is safe to say that a lot of us have been disappointed in not playing as consistent as we’d like to,” said Campbell. “But I am hoping that we will pick it up for the rest of our season.”

Leading the way this season for the women is first-year Tate Head, who saw last weekend’s tournament as a warm-up for this weekend’s Northwest Conference Spring Classic in Moses Lake, Wash. Nonetheless she was upset with her performance Saturday.

“I didn’t play my best, but I’ve been trying to work on my swing and just figure things out, kind of like a practice round,” said Head.

It is likely the Missionary ladies were a little rusty as last weekend’s tournament was the first since their spring break trip to Southern California, where they played in the Redlands Women’s Golf Invitational at the East Valley Golf Club in Beaumont, Calif.

Windy conditions and a difficult course challenged the Whitman women in Beaumont as they finished fourth, 25 shots back of  third place, the University of Calgary, in the four-team tournament. On the bright side Head finished sixth individually, shooting 95 on the last day of the tournament and finishing the weekend with a score of 197 for the 36-hole competition. First-years Sydney Conway and Caitlin Holland shot 217 and 226 respectively, while junior Sydney Saito fired a 226 and senior Kelsi Evans finished with a 237.

“It was very hard to swing and ended up being frustrating. We felt like we played horrible,” said Head.

The Whitman women have been concentrating on improving focus, motivation and patience with the game since spring break. With more underclassmen making up the bulk of the team, Head believes the adjustment to college level competition to be a work in progress as the women look to the future.

“Staying positive is huge, with golf especially, since it’s a sport where a lot depends on your mental game,” said Head, who also added that the women’s coach Skip Molitor has tried to motivate the team toward confidence.

“Placing in the top three would be great for this year. Next year, we’d love to go to nationals,” said Head on some of her goals for the team this season in the future of the young team.

The men share the same hope for a strong finish this spring and a better season next year.

“There is a good core of guys on the team,” said Campbell. “Not only is there a great team dynamic building, but there are some good golfers on the squad.”

Junior Brian Barton shined for the men’s team last fall and is currently abroad in Scotland. With his return in the fall the Whitman men are hopeful for next season.

“It could be a year that they make a serious run at the conference title,” said Campbell.

The men and women’s golf teams are competing this weekend in the NWC Northern Colleges Spring Tournament, at the Links at Moses Pointe in Moses Point, Wash.