Dominique Pytlewski, a senior member of the Colorado Buffaloes women’s golf team, received a text message a few days ago from a friend who attends Colorado State University.
The message said, “Ram jam” in reference to CSU’s 23-17 football win over the Buffs on Sept. 6.
In the first few weeks of the 2009 academic school year, CSU has owned CU in football and men’s golf. Some members of the women’s golf team say they would like to get revenge at the two-day CSU Ptarmigan Ram Fall Classic in Fort Collins, hosted by the Rams, beginning Monday.
“I think we’re going to go out and kick CSU’s butt,” said sophomore Emily Talley. “We should show the football team and the men’s golf team what should happen against the Rams.”
Others, however, say they would like to look past CSU and view a broader picture.
“It’s always good to win, but there are other teams we’d rather beat like Cal. We have a little bit more of a grudge about that,” said Pytlewski, referring to the team’s second-place finish behind the University of California Golden Bears at last year’s Ptarmigan Ram Classic.
Regardless of whom CU’s target is, if they want to walk the walk instead of just talking the talk, they will need to rebound after finishing last out of 16 teams at the NGCA Collegiate Match Play Championship tournament last week in Daytona Beach, Fla.
The team didn’t make any excuses for their poor performance, although they did admit they had plenty of rust to knock off after many players either went home or participated in internships during the summer.
“To be honest, to be competitive in golf, you have to play tournaments,” said head coach Anne Kelly. “Having that tournament so early in the season is different for us. It kind of was our training camp.”
Talley last played golf in June. She said losing was a difficult experience.
“It was really hard for me to lose three matches and play some of the worst golf in my time at CU,” Talley said. “It was eye-opening and disappointing.”
Not all is lost.
The players say they believe last year’s Ptarmigan Ram Classic is more indicative of how well this team can play.
Furthermore, the Buffs say they have a deeper team this season with the emergence of sophomore Jamie Befort, redshirt freshman Taylor Doyle and Santa Clara University sophomore transfer Meaghan Kari.
All they need is to rediscover their games. Pytlewski said she found her swing last week. If others follow suit, then the NGCA Match Play Championship will be a mirage.
“That was not usual for us,” Pytlewski said. “We never usually play that bad. We’re definitely expecting wins, and if not wins, we’re expecting to be top three or four.”
Contact CU Independent Sports Editor Cheng Sio at Cheng.sio@colorado.edu.
