Storm women’s golf has been focused on steady improvement with a recent addition to the coaching staff.

Junior Jennifer Gaffney led the Simpson women’s golf team last weekend in the Wartburg Fall Invitational by tying for 26th. The Storm overall placed 13th of 20 teams.

Although the Storm is not getting the results they expect, they are maintaining the drive for success.

“We all haven’t had the scores that we were hoping for the first two meets, but we work very hard on the range and course every practice,” senior Jenni Stumph said.

Recently the Storm added co-head coach Noel Treible, who has helped head coach Bob Darrah motivate the women out on the green.

“I feel like Coach Treibel and Coach Darrah really push us at practice and it is going to help us the next couple of weekends get the scores that we have been looking for,” Stumph said.

In order for the Storm to compete at their best, they have been fixing minor glitches during practice that can really add up in meets.

“We have been practicing shortgame, which is putting and chipping, to be able to lower scores that result from those errors,” Gafney said. “We have been playing a few holes almost every day to gain experience on the course.”

Nearly as important as their play, the team also works on building and maintaining their team chemistry.

“In addition to this, we also have team dinners every week to bond and remain a strong team,” Gafney said. “It is necessary to have a team that gets along well because we rely on each other to perform at our very best.”

The team puts a lot of stock into its drive and determination to finish well this year.

“We have good players this year and I think we have the ability to be conference champs, because I feel like as a team we have the drive to beat Wartburg,” senior Taylor Hillery said.

“We understand that it is not just an individual sport, but that it is also a team sport and we rely on each other to do well as a team in tournaments,” Gafney said.

The Storm is set on performing its best and is hoping to finish the season near the top of the difficult conference.

“I think our team has the potential to finish in the top 3 of the conference,” Treibel said.

The recent changes and direction the team has taken are viewed positively by player and coach alike.

“The whole team has really improved from last year and I am anxious to see them reach their full potential,” Treibel said.

The Storm will next compete at the Central Invitational in Pella on Friday