The Dixie women’s golf team is making a striking start of 2015.
The women’s golf team has nine women on the team. It practices five days a week all over St. George and Washington. It is required to have at least 20 hours of practice as well as strength and conditioning twice a week at 7 a.m.
All this hard work pays off for the team with being only three years old; the team is currently ranked No. 39 in the country.
Head coach Rachel Harmon said the team continues to get better every year.
“We have had great success in our short time,” Harmon said.
The focus of the team varies by semester, which is determined by the needs of the players, Harmon said.
“We are working on consistency in the players’ games as well as their mental strength,” Harmon said.
Haley Dunn, a senior integrated studies major from Layton, said she loves to practice her short game.
“As I continue to practice my chipping and putting, I feel more confident on the course, knowing if I’m not sticking the ball great I’m still going to shoot a low score because my short game is on point,” Dunn said.
Dunn has been on the team for three years. Dunn played at Utah Valley University her freshman year, attending all of the tournaments in the fall season. She was the runner-up in the 2011 Junior Match play and also shot 73 and placed No. 5 in the 2012 Utah Open Men’s Tournament at Eagle Mountain. Dunn’s best round of college golf is 75.
The women’s team members have a strong unity and have gotten to know each other for the three years they have been part of the Storm.
“No matter the circumstances we are always supporting one another and pushing each other to reach our full potential,” Dunn said.
Dunn said the best part of golf is having the opportunity to play different courses.
“Golf is always a new challenge because no course is the same, and even if you have played it before, the conditions could be different,” Dunn said.
The team has played in only two tournaments this semester, the first at Point Loma University at the San Diego Women’s Championship where it placed third. Dunn led for most of the tournament, and the team had an overall team round of 323 on day two.
During the fall semester, the team played in four tournaments, where it placed in first, third, eighth and ninth place.
The team played at the California Baptist University Women’s Invitational on Monday and Tuesday, where it placed second in the first day.
The women’s golf is not very recognized on campus, but Harmon said the team has a Facebook page a Twitter account with the hopes of increasing followers.
The team will compete again at the Brigham Young University Entrada Classic in St. George on March 16 and 17.
