Knights take Victory at UMHB Invitational!

Your Northwood Knights took the championship at the UMHB Invitational hosted by the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor at Stonetree GC in Killeen, Texas.

The Knights started the day, played in beautiful sunshine with a brisk wind, in confident fashion as they made the turn at 5 under par. The wind picked up on the back side as the Knights posted a solid 1 over, 289.

Led by a 2 under par 70 by Freshman Carter Caldwell, the Knights although not playing at their fluent best, managed the course, the wind and their games very well.

Coach Belfield "I challenged the guys to convert chances when they needed to but play conservative when out of position. They did this superbly. Only Carter and maybe Derek played well, the other three found ways to manage their games and post a score. I was extremely pleased to again see Carter post a score and be backed up by the team. We are in exactly the position we want to be heading into the final round!"

The Knights, leading by 3 going into the final round, found the conditions much tougher as winds gusted up to 30mph. They started really solid however posting 3 under at the turn, dealing with the wind superbly.

The back nine, which is the tougher nine, the players dropped some shots and made a few loose swings however managed to post a decent score of 299 to leave a nervous wait to see who won.

The scores were announced and the Knights took victory over the host school by a mere one stroke!



(from left) Travis Kemp, Joss Gosling, Derek Trofimczuk, Carter Caldwell & JT Zaiger



Led by Travis Kemp's level par 72, the Knights scrapped their way to victory, showing that whilst much work needed to be done they can -

- Play with the lead

- Win whilst not playing their best

- Grind a score out

- WIN!

Coach Belfield "This win was a really nice one to take away, the guys showed they are very comfortable sleeping on the lead and came out this morning ready to post a score that simply no one would beat. We didn't finish as well as we would have liked but considering the conditions I knew there would be a couple of shots that didn't turn out to our liking. Carter posted a very solid score to finish 2nd overall whilst not playing his fluent best and Travis led the team like a Senior should today. Winning breeds winning and this is a good way to go into next week!"

Led by Carter Caldwell T2nd (70-75), Senior Travis Kemp placed T4th with 75-72, Sophomores Joss Gosling (T8th 74-75), Derek Trofimczuk (T11th 72-78) & JT Zaiger (T11th 73-77).

The Knights go into next week’s Texoma Championship at Chickasaw Pointe GC in high spirits; you can follow our season & rankings at Golfstat

RESULTS

 

Knights finish 10th in season opener!

Your Northwood Knights opened their season at the UC Ferguson Classic hosted by Oklahoma City University at Lincoln Park GC.

The Knights started the first round in glorious sunshine, on a very scoreable golf course by firing a 294 which left them in T9th. Led by a solid 69 by Sophomore Derek Trofimczuk, the Knights struggled to get anything going on the greens and that left them much work to do in the second round.

The Second round brought them a fast start, Freshman Carter Caldwell fired a blistering bogey free 31 and the team turned at 7 under par, unfortunately the back nine brought them only bogies as they simply could not sustain and build off the great start.

Senior Travis Kemp led the team with a good score of 1 under par 70 however with average scores of 72 (Jeremy Novakowski & Carter Caldwell) and Derek Trofimczuk ending with a 75 the team could only come in with a 289.

Coach Belfield "The guys got off to a sloppy start this morning and couldn't really get going, whenever we did something good they followed it with a mistake that cost them a shot. The second round we started off superbly, I was really pleased that Carter showed a glimpse of his talent by firing a really good front nine however to compete at this level you need to score on all 18 holes, we simply didn't do that on the back nine. The guys didn't play badly but we certainly didn't play well, they just didn't capitalize on some of the good shots they hit, as a result we need to post a low one tomorrow!"

Coach Belfield added "The Knights 3rd round began early and they struggled right out of the gate, bringing it back and playing a little more solid towards the end of the nine, we turned just about OK. The back nine was extremely poor however and whilst the teams around us were firing birdies we seemingly only had pars and bogies to respond. The guys were extremely disappointed, as they should be, but we simply cannot hit some of the shots we did when teams around us are shooting under par. If we truly believe we are a good team, we need to prove it in tournaments like this. We simply have no excuses this time around."

The Knights finished in 10th place firing 294-289-300. Led by Senior Travis Kemp T-23rd (72-70-71), Derek Trofimczuk T-49th (69-75-76), Carter Caldwell T-56th (76-72-75), Jeremy Novakowski T-66th (77-72-81) and Drake Genna 70th (79-78-78)

The Knights get a chance very quickly to progress as they go to Stonetree GC in Killeen, TX next week playing in the Mary Hardin-Baylor Invitational.

Men's Team

Women's Team

Zain finishes 3rd as Lady Knights have solid finish!

Your Lady Knights opened the 2012/13 season by co-hosting the "Hawks Creek Classic" at Hawks Creek GC in Ft.Worth.

The Lady Knights started off very slowly on Monday in perfect conditions and eventually posted a 331 to lie in T-3rd.

The Lady Knights were led by Freshman Fariza Zain's 79, Laura Deleonardis had 80, Caitlin Cole had 85, Daniela Martinez 87 and Junior Carol Galindo shot 88.

Coach Belfield "I had 4 freshmen playing and they all seemed to be very tense and nervous at the start of the round. That is what got us, we didn't start very well at all, combine that with a couple of slip-ups towards the end of the round and it makes 331!

I challenged the girls to make sure that we don't think 331 is any good, they deserve a Coach that is going to push them and although last year we may have been pleased with 331, this year is a whole new year, with new attitudes and better scores."

Before the second round the girls made sure to do a little work on their putting before the round and they all seemed to be much more settled.

Led again by Fariza Zain who fired a solid 74 to finish 3rd overall, the Lady Knights posted a much improved 315.

Coach Belfield "The girls came out with a little more fire and seemed a lot more comfortable. I was expecting us to fire a score much lower than the first day!

Fariza played some really nice golf but should see this as a missed opportunity. Fariza and Laura both played much better than their scores suggested.

Even though I had 4 girls that were playing their first collegiate event, they all know how to play golf and score well. This tournament, where we competed against some very good schools should serve as both encouragement and a target for the girls. We are very talented but if we want to achieve our aims our short games have to improve."

Fariza finished 3rd (79-74), Laura shot 80-80 to finish in 12th, Daniela Martinez finished 20th shooting 87-79, Caitlin Cole (85-82) and Carol Galindo (88-89) rounded out the scoring.

Competing individually Kirstie Krueger had a great result shooting 78-84 to finish in a tie for 14th and Nicola Jeffries shot 101-107.

The Lady Knights now have a month to get their games in order before they compete in what should be the strongest field of the fall at the No.1 ranked Oklahoma City Stars tournament.

RESULTS