When scanning the “Team Home Pages” pull-down menu on the Wesleyan athletics website, one sees home pages for both the men’s and women’s squads in sports such as soccer and basketball. Sports in which Wesleyan fields only one team – including [men’s] football and [women’s] volleyball – are listed just once. Golf is included among the sports with only one listing, but Lauren Russman ’09 is trying to change that.
The lone woman on the Wesleyan golf team, Russman competed in her first collegiate event Sept. 15 and 16 at the 2007 Middlebury College Women’s Invitational Golf Tournament. Russman performed admirably, finishing seventh of 23 golfers with a +29 (175) total that included a second round 80, her lifetime low.
For Russman, the road to representing Wesleyan in a golf event, women’s or men’s, has been slow, and at times confusing. Hailing from Pleasanton, CA, Russman played on the girls’ golf team at Amador Valley High School in her senior year. Playing to a solid 12.2 USGA (United States Golf Association) handicap index, Russman held down the number two position on her high school squad. A successful senior season left Russman eager to join the team upon her arrival at college.
“When I first arrived at Wesleyan I was very excited about trying out for the golf team. I was playing fairly consistently, and I thought my scores might be good enough to qualify me for an event or two,” Russman said.
Russman failed to make necessary connections to join the team during her first two years at Wes, in part due to the informal natural of the golf team. Undeterred, Russman set about improving her game prior to her junior year.
“Unfortunately, I didn’t have regular transportation to the golf course [during my first two years] to practice and play and I didn’t know anyone on the team to bum rides from. Last spring and summer, I made a more determined effort to improve and gain attention. My work paid off, and I was promised a chance to compete in a NESCAC women’s golf event if I couldn’t qualify to play with the men’s team,” Russman explained.
Key to Russman’s increased participation has been the support of the team’s coaches and the Athletics Department as a whole.
“This fall, everyone has been very supportive,” she said. “Both assistant coach Jeff Gilarde and head coach Chris Potter have been in contact with coaches of women’s teams in the NESCAC to help find appropriate tournaments. John Biddiscombe, our Athletic Director has been extremely helpful, making sure that I have transportation and a place to stay if and when I travel with the team. The other members of the team have been wonderful. They offer me rides to the golf course in addition to encouragement and advice. I feel very lucky to be part of a talented and supportive program.”
While Russman has prior experience as the lone woman on a “men’s” team and clearly has enjoyed herself thus far this fall, she hopes her success helps spur greater interest in a women’s golf team at Wes.
“I would love to start a women’s golf team at Wesleyan, especially after how gratifying my experience was last weekend. I’m sure there are female golfers at Wesleyan. Some, perhaps, don’t believe they are talented enough to play on a team. NESCAC women’s golf, however, consists of a very wide range of abilities, so there’s no reason one should be intimidated. I encourage any woman on campus interested in playing golf to contact me. With enough interest, I think there is a very real possibility of creating a Women’s team here at Wes,” she explained.
Russman expects to participate in two more tournaments this fall: the Williams’ Columbus Day Invitational on Oct. 6 and the Wellesley Invitational on Oct. 13. The fall golf season concludes in October and starts the spring schedule just after spring break. Russman is excited to continue playing in the spring, perhaps with a few more women on the team.
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