Although sophomore Kristi Cardwell and junior Chelsea Harris may not be the most experienced Hawkeyes on the Iowa women’s golf team, they lead the team in scoring.
After the fall schedule, Cardwell and Harris were tied as the team’s low-scorers with an average of 75.7 strokes. Senior Laura Cilek had the second-best fall average at 77.1.
“Having consistency on a golf team is key for success,” Harris said. “If one person isn’t having a great day, it’s a relief if you know you can count on a couple people to put up a good number.”
Talented and knowledgeable are exactly how the Hawkeyes describe their leading duo.
“Chelsea knows a lot about golf and the golf swing,” Cilek said. “She is good at applying that knowledge to help herself get better and better every day.”
Like Harris, Cardwell is particular about her swing, and that shows in competition in both her long and short game.
A week ago the Hawkeyes began the spring season at the Edwin Watts/Kiawah Classic in Kiawah Island, S.C. Iowa posted a total team score of 953 to finish 23rd out of 33 teams.
“Kiawah Island was a pretty disappointing start to the spring season,” Harris said, “Both as a team and individually. I had much better scores in the fall than I did last weekend, but we have several more tournaments to put up the low numbers that I know we are all capable of.”
Although Harris was disappointed by her own game, she was again Iowa’s low scorer with an average of 78.7 during the competition.
“Chelsea is a teammate you can always count on to give 110 percent on the golf course,” Cilek said. “She fights for every shot, and you know she is always out there grinding. She works hard on her game.”
Two standout performers can create tension on a team, but this is not an issue for Cardwell and Harris. Although the duo says they are each competitive, it ultimately benefits Iowa.
“Chelsea and Kristi are great teammates,” senior Lauren Forbes said. “They work hard and continually push others to battle it out for the top spots on the team.”
Harris said there is no competition between them, but pushing to be the best motivates both of them to be successful.
“We are both very competitive and want to play our best,” Harris said. “We’re both constantly working for the No. 1 spot.”
Teammates agreed that both Cardwell and Harris contribute a lot to the team with their knowledge of the sport, but their biggest asset is their reliability.
“The coach can rely on those top players to come in with a good round and keep [their score in the] high 70s at worst,” Forbes said. “These types of players set the bar high, which in turn, pushes other members of the team to work hard to compete for those top spots.”
