The final and most important tournament of the fall season for the girl’s golf team is coming up this weekend at Gateway National near St. Louis.

Although this year’s golf team has been plagued by ineligible players and a lack of upper classmen players, the team has high hopes for winning the tournament.

The lack of the normal top players has opened up a big opportunity for the freshmen to show their skill, and to show what they can do this year. In effect the team is very young and has had its set of struggles this season.

“I’m looking forward to the spring,” Coach Don Bisesi said. “This fall season fell short and is the first time we are not in the top 45.”

Junior criminal justice major Taylor Merriss is one of the golf team’s most promising players, Bisesi said. Merriss, who started playing golf her freshman year of high school, did not play her freshman year at USI. She walked on the team last year and is making strides to be one of the best player’s on the team.

Merriss said she is anxious to see how she will do in this tournament, as it is the first course she shot a score under 80. Merriss has won two tournaments recently: the Evansville City Tournament and the Tunica National, Tunica, Miss.

“This summer I played in the Evansville Women’s City Tournament, which is all of the local golfers,” Merriss said. “After I won that I had a lot of confidence in my golf game, which I think is what led me to have my first college win the first tournament of the season.”

Bisesi mentioned that the conditions in Tunica were exceptionally difficult. With winds averaging 35-45mph on course right off of the Mississippi River. The course is known for its flat land and lack of trees making the wind more prominent.

Merriss and the rest of the girls on the team will look for a strong showing at next week’s tournament.