Fresno State finished its fall season at the end of October during
the Las Vegas Collegiate Showdown. Now, the ‘Dogs won’t be competing
until February at the Stanford Invitational.
Photo courtesy of Fresno State Athletics’ Keith Kountz
It has been two weeks since the ‘Dogs have hit the course and Fresno State is back in full-swing preparation for the spring season with interim head coach Alexis Edwards pushing her team to climb another 20 spots in the collegiate rankings during the fall season.
The Bulldogs are currently ranked 88th in Golfstat.com’s NCAA Division I rankings, a 20-place jump since the start of the fall season. Edwards wants her team to match the improvement in the spring as well.
“I don’t think it should be a problem for the girls, but with their playing ability they should have no problem moving up 20 spots,” Edwards said. “With time, effort and practice it should be a nice, fair goal to achieve.”
And that goal isn’t unattainable as the ‘Dogs earned two second-place finishes in the four tournaments they competed in during the fall. Fresno State finished second at the Rose City Collegiate Tournament and the Cowgirl Desert Intercollegiate, respectively.
The reason for the Bulldogs’ impressive finishes rest on senior Louisa Lies and freshman Madchen Ly. The two have combined for four top-10 finishes this season.
Lies’ return this season was uncertain due to major knee surgery, but she has recovered fully and has taken charge of the ‘Dogs on the green with a 75.75 scoring average.
Ly is a freshman from Clovis High School and the lone recruit for Fresno State this season. She has risen to the occasion with second-place and fourth-place finishes at the Rose City and Cowgirl Desert Intercollegiate tournaments, respectively.
Ly leads the team with a 74.92 scoring average after four tournaments. Edwards recognizes that Fresno State has been consistent in recent tournaments.
“They played very well and were confident,” Edwards said. “Heads held high throughout the event so it’s just keeping that momentum from those tournaments into the rest of the season.”
There is a lot for the ‘Dogs to build off of going into the spring season as they were relatively successful during the fall.
Edwards is confident in her team, but concerned that the players need to carry the momentum into the spring season.
“There’s always up and downs in golf,” Edwards said. “The goal with golf is to figure out how you’re taking that momentum from one tournament, one round, or even one hole or one shot to everything else in the future. You have to practice your mental game too. As long as everyone is practicing and doing what they need to then the spring should be a success.”
Lies agreed with her coach that the first three tournaments were her best performances of the season, compared to her final outing at the Las Vegas Collegiate Showdown where she tied for 70th place and shot a final score of 236 over three rounds.
Born and raised in Germany, Lies grew up around the game of golf and has become the team’s No. 1 player.
She has led the ‘Dogs in scoring average in both her sophomore and junior seasons, as well as a second-place finish at the Western Athletic Conference Tournament during her freshman year. Lies was also named second-team All-WAC the past two seasons. Lies realizes that Fresno State’s play in the fall season could dictate how they fare in the spring.
“I think it’s very important to know what we’re capable of now,” Lies said. “That self confidence you go into a tournament with, you have to keep that going. That’s the only way to win a tournament, if you don’t doubt yourself.”