The Shepherd University women’s golf team traveled to Kutztown, Pennsylvania for a two-day tournament at the Kutztown Invitational Oct. 1-3. The tournament took place at Moselem Springs Golf Club located just outside of Kutztown. It started as a typical tournament, but by day two, the situation quickly deteriorated.
Four players played on the rainy days with the team leader being freshman Sara Veara with a score of 170, followed by junior Amanda Deener with a score of 183, junior Olivia Rosick with a score of 193, and Ciara Scafide who shot a 220. The team placed seventh out of the eight other teams.
When the team showed up for the practice round, the course was closed due to heavy rain and flooding. The course luckily allowed for the girls to take a cart out on the course and look at each hole. The next day was day one of the two-day tournament where friends and family members showed up to watch the players. Each family member who would like a cart to ride in was allowed to and the coaches were as well. The next day, the circumstances were different.
On Mondays, Moselem Springs Golf Club is closed and they made no exception even with a tournament going on. Carts were not allowed for any spectators or coaches because the course was “closed.” Two sets of parents on the team paid for a cart the day before and still did not get a cart on the last day of the tournament.
A parent of a player said, “I have family that was planning on coming [to] this tournament to watch my daughter, but they are older in age and it’s hard to walk an 18-hole golf course.”
Another parent said, “I paid the day before to make sure I had a cart the next day, and they still did not give me the cart. The pro shop said they would give us a refund on my credit card, but I have not received it yet.” Both sets of parents are still waiting on the refund.
Multiple parents had issues with no golf carts, but what was the biggest issue was the coaches not having carts. Player Ciara Scafide said, “I only saw coach once when I was playing and I needed waters and snacks which he could not deliver easy.”
Another player, Sara Veara said, “The course was challenging and I could have used some tips on shots which coach usually does, but he could not easily be with each player because we were split up between holes. The course should have made each player behind each other so coach could make it to us easier.”
The coach of the women’s golf team, Chuck Ingram, unfortunately tore his calf muscle two weeks prior. The no cart situation was not ideal for his leg. He said, “It’s unfortunate to not offer spectators golf carts, but its especially not right to deny coaches a cart. I need a cart to be able to carry food and waters as well as being able to see each of my players multiple times during the round. With me having a torn calf muscle, it did not make the situation better as I was in a pain during the round, slower in walking, and was very sore the next day.”
Even though he was not pleased with the cart issue, Coach Ingram will be returning next year as the course is beautiful with great fairways and is not overly challenging for the team to compete in.
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