For the first time since late October, the No. 20 N.C . State women’s golf squad was back in action to resume its best season in program history. State traveled down to Rio Grande, Puerto Rico Sunday through Tuesday, coming away with an 8th place finish out of 15 competing teams.
Vivian Tsui , another one of the up-and-coming freshmen the Pack has seen rise to the forefront this season, led NCSU for the tournament by shooting 74-73-80 (+11). Tsui notched a top-25 finish and helped the Wolfpack to defeats of No. 33 TCU, No. 38 Iowa State, No. 40 Kent State and No. 50 Michigan.
“I had a good first two days and felt pretty good going into today,” Tsui said. “Things didn’t turn out perfectly, but that happens. As a team, we really enjoyed ourselves down there and had a lot of fun. It was a good experience for sure.”
The Pack will head back down south for its next tournament, but this time Tsui and her teammates will be staying in the United States. On February 27 and 28, State will play at Weston Country Club in Weston, Fla., where mastering Bermuda grass, the same surface they saw in Puerto Rico, will be paramount to the team’s success.
“The Bermuda greens in Puerto Rico are definitely a little different than we are used to,” Tsui said. “But I think going down to Rio Grande and getting to practice and play is really good for future tournaments.”
Fellow Canadian and sophomore Brittany Marchand finished second in scoring for State in the Lady Puerto Rico Classic. She echoed Tsui’s thoughts about getting another shot at playing on a thicker, more wiry type of surface.
“Many of us have grown up on bent grass, so it is a little different for us,” Marchand said. “We definitely learned that the greens didn’t roll as true, especially if you aren’t on line. [The greens] roll slower and they are bumpier, so you have to be a little bit firmer with your putts.
“Now we at least have that experience for the next tournament coming up.”
Before playing in that tournament in two weeks, State will be looking to work on both the physical and mental part of their games. Being one year older than Tsui , Marchand said she understands the pressures of playing well during what would normally be an off-season for the Canadians.
“I would tell [ Tsui ] to just keep working at it,” Marchand said. “Her game is there, and to be quite honest, being from Canada, we would usually not be playing this time of year. It’s snowing right now. We don’t even start tournament play until May up in Canada, so her body is telling her ‘I’ve never played right now.'”
Coach Page Marsh has guided her team to the best start in school history, which includes the program’s first ever top-25 ranking. While her team plays outside of North Carolina until mid March, Marsh said that moving forward and improving for the future will be imperative.
“We had some areas that were kind of rough, and those are the ones we need to address,” Marsh said. “All in all, it’s not the start they expected, but you move forward.”
Although the team is now focused squarely on the future, Marsh did point out that the Puerto Rico experience helps with team bonding.
“It’s a great opening event, because you spend a lot of quality [time] together,” Marsh said. “Early mornings you wait for the sun to rise, then you’re at breakfast together, and then you go to hit balls. Then we play and then the girls study during the afternoon. So it really is one of the tournaments where we are so close-knit.”
State will have at least five more tournaments for the season, including the ACC Championships in Greensboro on April 13-15.
