Vandals vie to continue successful course

If the University of Idaho women’s golf team is looking for a successful blueprint for this week’s NCAA West Regionals, it could refer to the gutsy performance of five players who rallied from a large deficit to win on a course that had been nothing but trouble in previous tournaments.

The team’s name was the Idaho Vandals.

A couple of weeks after claiming the WAC championship at the New Mexico State University Golf Course, the Vandals will attempt to tame another nettlesome track – the Johnny Miller-designed Entrada at Snow Canyon in St. George, Utah – Thursday through Saturday.

The Vandals, seeded 15th in the 21-team field, need a top-eight finish to advance to the NCAA championships, but they’ve been underdogs before. Idaho was the third seed in the WAC tournament and sat in sixth place after the first day.

“We went to BYU’s tournament the last two years hoping we’d get back there (to St. George),” Idaho coach Brad Rickel said. “We haven’t had a huge amount of success on the course, but I know if we can figure it out and make it fit us we’ll be fine.”

Idaho has enjoyed one of the best seasons in program history. The Vandals are ranked 44th by Golfstat and 48th by Golfweek. They have a 24-9 record against WAC teams and they’re 93-39-2 against Division I competition. They’re 12-3 against teams seeded just lower than and higher than they are at the West Regionals.

But their biggest strength might be the number five.

“I think the reason we won (the WAC) is because on any day any one of us five can play well and that’s a nice way to play golf,” said Cassie Castleman, the team’s lone senior. “It’s nice that you can rely on your teammates to play solid.”

Junior Kelly Nakashima led the team with a scoring average of 75.56, roughly a half-stroke better than junior Renee Skidmore. Nakashima set a school record for a 54-hole event when she shot 12 under par at the UNLV Spring Invitational, including rounds of 68 and 65. Her 65 equaled the school record Castleman set as a freshman at a tournament in Colorado.

“I was a little upset with the 68 because I bogeyed the last hole,” Nakashima said. “Then shooting a 65 (the next day) was unbelievable. Everything was falling.”

Nakashima credits improved driving and putting for clipping two shots off her scoring average from her sophomore to junior year. She grew up in Hawaii, but found her way onto Rickel’s recruiting radar from former Vandal Christian Akau, who was also from Hawaii.

Skidmore hasn’t matched last year’s 74.52 scoring average – partly because of a demanding class schedule – but she shot 72 and 73 in the final two rounds of the WAC tournament, earning a tie for second.

“I’m going through IBC (integrated business curriculum), it’s a one-year program and I’m getting into the heart of it,” Skidmore said. “It’s been a struggle, but I’ve pushed through it.”

Idaho is in the midst of finals week, but several players have tried to reschedule exams so they were done before they left for Utah. Skidmore will probably have to take one final on the road.

“She’s working hard on her game and just in the last few weeks she’s really started to come around,” Rickel said. “If she’s back to who she can be, we’re a pretty scary bunch.”

By week’s end, Castleman will have played 120 tournament rounds as a Vandal. She’s rebounded from a tough junior season.

“I’ve been working on my mental game and my emotional game a lot, just trying to get back to my competitive spirit and to find my passion for the game again,” Castleman said. “I kind of lost it there for a while, but I’m slowly finding my way back to who I am and why I play golf.”

Castleman closed the WAC tournament in style, draining a 35-foot putt to birdie on the last hole. Idaho won the team title by three shots.

The Vandals have relied on the experience of Castleman, Nakashima and Skidmore, but freshmen Amanda Jacobs and Beth Stonecypher have played key roles in the team’s success. Their scoring averages rank third and fourth, respectively.

Jacobs was Idaho’s top finisher in her first tournament last fall and she birdied No. 17 on the final day of the WAC tournament.

“I didn’t really have any nerves, just the normal first-tee butterflies,” she said. “Other than that, just a normal day at the course.”

Jacobs didn’t take up golf until her freshman year of high school. That’s when the LPGA held an event in Oregon and Jennifer Rosales, who has won twice on the tour, stayed at Jacobs’ home. After shooting in the high 90s as a freshman, Jacobs attended a golf academy in South Carolina. Her scores dropped to the mid-70s by her senior season.

Stonecypher often drives the ball between 250-260 yards. She has three top-10 finishes, including a tie for ninth at the WAC championship.

“When she’s hitting it straight, she’s scary good,” Rickel said.

Stonecypher has experienced highs and lows at Entrada at Snow Canyon, which features several holes with fairways bordered by lava beds. She shot an 89, followed by a 73 about a month ago.

“I’m really confident because we’ve played well this spring and we’ve played this course before,” she said.

Rickel is a believer, too.

“We have to flat-out play our best, but it’s doable,” he said. “The biggest thing we have is any one of them could be our best player on a given day.”