MIRAMAR BEACH, Fla. — Kallie Lux didn’t hesitate.
The senior at Wisconsin-Whitewater ditched her shoes and socked and jumped into the shallow water of the pond flanking the right side of the 18th green. She got her stance, settled her feet into the moss and mud and flung her club at the ball.
A big splash ensued, but her shot didn’t get out of the pond. No need to fear, she quickly shuffled her feet, repositioned and hit again. It was a brilliant shot, coming to rest a couple feet from the hole, and Lux knocked in her bogey putt without ever placing her socks or shoes back on.
It was a risky shot that perhaps Lux wouldn’t have tried under normal circumstances, but Wisconsin-Whitewater coach Andrea Wieland encouraged Lux to take the risk. She earned the right to do so.
A week ago, Wisconsin-Whitewater won the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference for the eighth straight year, punching its ticket to the Division III national championship in May. This week, the Warhawks are one of 24 women’s team at the Golfweek October Classic. It’s the last tournament on their schedule, though they’re going to add a couple more in the spring before nationals. And it’s an interesting wrinkle the Warhawks and others face: having won conference titles with months to go until a chance to win a national title.
“This event has always been like a reward for us winning conference,” Wieland said. “We won conference, we get to go to the beach and just go out and play free. We always try to learn something we play.”
During the opening round of the Golfweek October Classic, Wisconsin-Whitewater struggled on the last hole, with Lux’s bogey tying for their best score from their five players. It was a disappointing finish, but as Wieland said, tomorrow is a chance to be better.
And in a field that features seven of the top-10 teams in the country, doing better every day is a key to finding success in the national championship.
Sunday was only the opening round of a regular-season event, but as many coaches have said, this week’s field is arguably the strongest in the history of Division III golf outside of the national championship, and even stronger than that some years. It’s a great chance for teams to gauge where they’re at against the top teams in the country, but it’s also not make-or-break, considering the biggest trophy remains up for grabs in a few months.
Enter Wisconsin-Whitewater. Its conference is comprised of eight schools from Wisconsin, and because of their location, golf in the winter and early spring isn’t ideal.
The Warhawks plan to go to California in the spring and may have another tournament to play in the following week, but there’s going to be a lot of non-competitive time between now and the national championship.
Even this week, where does the motivation come from to play well with a conference title locked up and a national championship berth secured? There’s plenty there for Wieland’s team.
“Winning our conference is so important to us,” Wieland said. “I don’t want those seniors to be like, sad all spring.”
In Wieland’s first year as head coach, they didn’t win the conference title. She saw her seniors that year check out, and other players became disinterested.
She never wanted to see her players have those reactions and feelings again. Since then, they haven’t.
Regardless of Wisconsin-Whitewater’s finish this week, the Warhawks have a tee time in the national championship secured. That doesn’t take away from the team trying new things, like ditching shoes to get into a pond, and working to be better and prepared for a national championship that seems a year away.
The offseason will be filled with indoor practices and other training regimes. Wieland isn’t worried about her team’s motivation. The first goal of winning the conference title is finish. Now it’s time to build toward winning the biggest goal.
“We’re always trying to figure things out,” Wieland said. “But it’s good to get out of your comfort zone and play free and aggressive and learn something for the future.”