The Iowa women’s golf team will head to Madison, Wis., for the Lady Northern Invitational, a two-day event on Sept. 27-28. The tournament, hosted by Wisconsin, will be a preview for the Big Ten championships in April 2010.

Iowa will compete against all 10 Big Ten teams, as well as College of Charleston, Georgetown, Iowa State, and Southern Methodist.

After struggling two weeks ago at the Mary Fossum Invitational in East Lansing, Mich., the Hawkeyes look to rebound. Iowa’s 15th place finish gave the team a new vigor to compete, and head coach Kelly Crawford is anxious to get the Hawkeyes on the course.

“After our first event, there was a lot of disappointment from everybody,” she said. “We all had high expectations and felt we were going to play very well, but we didn’t play well at all. We’ve put in a lot of work these past weeks fine-tuning and going back to basics.”

One of the main concerns addressed after the first tournament was yardage. Crawford noticed the women were missing greens during play, mostly failing to even reach the short grass.

The team spent a lot of time on the range to make sure the players knew exactly how far they were hitting each club.

Another point of focus for the Hawkeyes was their short games and converting up-and-downs.

Players are going to miss greens, Crawford said, but it’s key for them to be able to knock a chip close to the pin and sink the putt to save par.

She noted the team missed a lot of putts within 5 feet, which was costly to the team’s score.

“It’s been very positive practices. I think the girls are feeling much more comfortable with their irons, and gaining confidence knowing the actual distances they’re hitting them,” Crawford said. “ We spent a lot of time doing different chipping and putting drills to get more confident making those conversions.”

Expectations are still high for Iowa going into the Lady Northern. Crawford knows what the team is capable of, and she is sure the Hawkeyes have played below their ability so far. She said the team should be consistently scoring in the low 300s and is very close to doing so.

“Everybody is making improvements, and I feel like at any moment it’s all just going to click, and we’re going to put up the rounds we’re capable of,” Crawford said. “This will be a good test, but I feel we have a good chance to show what we’ve been working on.”

Senior Alison Cavanaugh also feels confident the team will show improved scores in its second tournament. She said her teammates aim to gather themselves and shoot the team score of 300 that the players and coaches have been looking for.

“I’d say we’re fired up,” Cavanaugh said. “We’re mad about how we played at Michigan State, and we feel we have something to prove. We know we are better than that, and it’s time to do it.”