Knights take 2nd as Trofimczuk storms to victory!

Your Northwood Knights hosted their home & final tournament of the fall at Tangle Ridge GC in Grand Prairie, Texas.

The Knights were in a field that included a staggering 12 Top 30 teams including 4 ranked inside the Top 7 and No.1 in the nation (and conference rivals) Texas Wesleyan, this was one of the strongest tournaments in the entire nation!

The Knights started the tournament in glorious, if a little chilly, sunshine. With no wind the field was expected to tear up Tangle Ridge which is known to produce some low scores when played well.

The Knights led by Derek Trofimczuk’s stellar 68, the Knights fired an opening round 292 to lay 4 shots off the pace set by Lubbock Christian.
This only set the stage for what was to come however, as the Knights followed up that round with a magnificent 13 under par 275!
The Knights were led again by Derek Trofimczuk who followed up his opening 68 with a sensational 66 to break the 36 scoring record!

Coach Belfield "What a fantastic round! It has been a long time coming but it was great to see the guys ALL play well at the same time!! Always a good sign when you have to drop a level par round!
Derek has been threatening all semester to do something spectacular but hasn't been able to put 2 rounds together.....until today! He played great! The only thing I would say is that although we played superbly, we could of (and should of) been much lower! However we are 2 shots in the lead and we look forward to playing with our closest rivals tomorrow!"

The final day brought another perfect day for scoring, the Knights struggled to get into a rhythm however were managing to grind out a score.

Coach Belfield "I knew it was going to be tight but I also knew that we had a number of explosive teams behind us that could fire a score to come from behind. The guys struggled all day to get anything going however I was really proud of the way they managed to grind out a decent score"

The Knights came in with a 296 which left them T2nd as rivals Texas Wesleyan pipped them by single stroke and CSU-San Marcos fired the round of the day 281 to tie the Knights.

Coach Belfield "This one stings a bit. Very tough to lose by one, we should have won this one but overall it is a great result by the guys and a great way to end the year.
Derek showed that he can lead from start to finish, he didn't play his fluent best today but grinded out a 71 to set the 54 hole scoring record. He has been working so hard so it is good to see him win his first collegiate event!" 

Led by Derek Trofimczuk 1st (68-66-71), Joss Gosling placed 20th with 75-72-70, Carter Caldwell & Senior Travis Kemp (T35th 76-70-76 & 73-70-79) and Daniel Stoakes (T73rd 79-69-83).

RESULTS!!

Deleonardis sets school record in 8th place finish!

Your Lady Knights played in the DBU Classic hosted by Dallas Baptist University at the GC of Dallas.

This tournament was a loaded DII tournament but also included No.1 ranked NAIA Lubbock Christian as well as conference rivals, Texas Wesleyan.

Being almost a home tournament for your Lady Knights, all that was required was a 15 minute trip across town to the historic GC of Dallas. The Lady Knights were able to enjoy a little more preparation than normal as they played their practice round on Friday.

 

from left - Esther Kang, Fariza Zain, Carol Galindo, Caitlin Cole, Laura Deleonardis



Paired with Western New Mexico State & Henderson St, the Lady Knights were got off to a rocky start before settling down and playing some better golf on the more scoreable 9.

The Lady Knights came in with a solid score of 314 however the story of the day was Freshman Laura Deleonardis' stunning score of 2 under par 70!! Smashing the old single round scoring record by 3 strokes!!

Coach Belfield "We really struggled at the start of the round however we started on a couple of the trickiest holes on the course, after that we really settled down. I have watched Laura grow in confidence over the last few weeks and she has been shooting some great scores in practice. Last week’s final round was a confidence boost again for and today was simply superb. She played extremely solid and picked up shots here and there. She is really starting to believe in herself".

In T8th overall starting the second day, the Knights were lucky enough to play with No.1 ranked NAIA Lubbock Christian and Californian school Chico State.

Coach Belfield "My only disappointment yesterday is that we didn't fire a great 'team' score. I challenged the girls to play better and hole putts when we need to........and if we do LCU are well within our reach"

The girls came out much better and started off strong being 12 over after 9 holes, the back 9 brought a mix bag of scores with birdies and bogies being shot in equal measures! The Lady Knights found a way to grind it out though and posted a respectable 315.

Coach Belfield "The wind was much stronger today but the girls managed it well and managed their games pretty good. We are still dropping way too many 'easy' shots but we had 2 big plusses this tournament and that was Laura starting to figure out how good she can really be and beating No.1 ranked and previously unbeaten LCU!"

Deleonardis set not only the 18 hole scoring record but the 36 hole record and finished 2nd overall. The Lady Knights beat a number of top 30 ranked DII schools as well as previously undefeated Lubbock Christian.

Led by Deleonardis T2nd (70-75), Esther Kang placed T33rd with 78-79, Fariza Zain (T51st 83-78), Caitlin Cole (T67th 83-83) & Carol Galindo (T75th 85-83).

RESULTS!!

 

Lady Knights break school record in Oklahoma!

Your Lady Knights finished 6th in a stellar NAIA field at the OCU Stars tournament hosted at Lincoln Park GC, Oklahoma City and hosted by the current No.1 team in the nation, Oklahoma City University.

The Lady Knights, playing after a 4 week break, opened the Stars tournament in good conditions with a disappointing 333 total. Led by Freshman Fariza Zain's 79 the Lady Knights struggled to build any momentum and really struggled on the greens.

Coach Belfield "I will take the blame for this round. I was horribly sick on Sunday night and came out Monday not having any sleep that night; I was as flat as a pancake.......the girls matched how I felt. It doesn't excuse the poor performance especially on/around the greens but it was unlike us play how we played, if we want to be a National Championship contender you cannot afford to spot good team 25 shots! I expect much better tomorrow......"

The Lady Knights came out on Tuesday for the final round well rested and ready to fight back some ground we lost on Monday.
They did this with a vengeance firing a NEW SCHOOL RECORD 307!!!!

Coach Belfield "The ladies came out with a better focus and knowledge of what they need to do, in order for us score like we know we can.
I had thought that particular record was well within reach for us and around the turn I knew it was in trouble! The ladies played very solid golf, picking up shots where they could but mostly managing their games great, in winds that gusted up to 25mph. I was really pleased to see Laura post a great score, she has been playing great in practice and it was nice to see her post that number in a tournament!
It shows you that we have the talent, but as with every team, only they will determine how far they go......"

Led by Fariza Zain T12th (79-76), Laura Deleonardis placed T18th with 84-75, Carol Galindo (T31st 85-80), Kirstie Krueger (T42nd 93-76) & Daniela Martinez (T53rd 85-91).

RESULTS!

Knights take 3rd in DII Tournament!

Your Northwood Knights continued their fall season in strong fashion at the 2012 Texoma Championship at Chickasaw Pointe GC in Durant, Oklahoma.

The Tournament, Hosted by Southeastern Oklahoma State University, featured NAIA powerhouse Oklahoma Christian, DII Top 10 Southwestern Oklahoma State as well as 9 other DII schools.

Coach Belfield "This is a strong tournament to be playing in! It will again give us a good gauge of how good we are and what we need to do to win. The golf course is a tough course and if the wind blows 300 will be a pretty good score! Coming off last week’s win, the guys are playing well and I expect them to continue their fine form".

The Knights started off in breezy conditions well firing a 298 to lay 2 shots of the pace set by Oklahoma Christian. Led by Freshman Carter Caldwell's 1 under par 71, the Knights were in second going into the second round. The winds increased as the day went on and reached gusts of 35mph, on a tough golf course this caused havoc to the field. The Knights managed to find a way to score despite the brutal conditions and posted a solid 300 to lie in third place at the days end.

Coach Belfield "The guys managed to find ways to score. The conditions were tough and some holes playing into the wind like the long 9th were just brutal. We held it together ok though on a day where there were only 4 scores under 300. I am looking forward to posting a score tomorrow and seeing how close we can get to the leaders!"

Round three brought much more serene conditions and fast greens. Chickasaw Pointe however is a stern test regardless of conditions and the Knights were again one of only 4 teams to shoot under 300 on the day, firing a 296 to consolidate third position.

Coach Belfield "Although the guys let a few shots get away today I thought we played ok. We were in a position at the turn to make up some ground on the leaders but the back nine wasn't our strongest apart from Derek who played superbly to bring it home. Overall I am pleased that the team had 3 solid scores. No one played fluent and struggled in spots, but we found a way to hold it together and post a score. Carter again had a really good tournament and I was pleased to see Joss play solid and Derek have a strong last round".

Led by Carter Caldwell T7th (71-73-75), Joss Gosling placed 12th with 73-74-74, Derek Trofimczuk (T13th 76-74-72), Senior Travis Kemp (T42nd 78-79-79) & JT Zaiger (T53rd 80-86-75).

 RESULTS!


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