There may be no better motto for a South Florida team mid-hurricane season than the one Nova Southeastern head coach Heather Wall is employing in the team van this fall: Control the controllables.
That strikes out weather, of course, but zeroes in on elements like picking smart lines and walking with confidence. The Sharks did all that at the Raven Golf Club in Sandestin, Florida, on their way to winning the Golfweek D2 Fall Invitational on Oct. 4.
Nova Southeastern took an early lead with a round of even-par 284, held that advantage through 36 holes then spent much of the final round bouncing back and forth with Flagler College. Nova won the team title by a one-shot margin at 19 over.
Wall’s small group of seven is a close-knit squad. There isn’t a senior on the team, but a pair of freshmen voices carry weight. In Sandestin, Emma Larsen won the individual title at 1 under while classmate Olivia Gronborg, who tied for second individually, brought in a final-round 4-under 67 that tipped the scales in Nova’s favor.
Larsen birdies at No. 16 – where she chipped in – and No. 17 – where she made a 20-footer – were key for the Sharks.
“The two new girls have kind of come in, which I was hoping, making a huge impact, kind of setting the pace already for the rest of the team, and everyone has just kind of followed suit,” said Wall.
The Golfweek Fall Challenge was Nova’s first outing this season but came after five qualifying rounds back home in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Junior Ellen Andersson finished 90 holes at 7 under and won qualifying by nine shots. She logged a T-20 in Sandestin.
“We’re just trying to really work on what we can control and being decisive and aggressive to our targets – not going for pins, just playing smart golf and making a lot of pars and minimizing the mistakes as much as possible,” Wall said.
Hurricane Ian, which made devastating landfall across the state and sent heavy rain and wind all the way to the East Coast, caused course closures in the days leading up to Nova’s fall debut. Wall leaned on the work that had already gone in.
“Our course has been closed, but before that, we were putting in a lot of really good, hard work and we were just trying to stack conditions in our favor,” she said.
At Flagler, nearly 300 miles north in St. Augustine, Florida, it was much the same story. Head coach Santiago Cavanagh said his players scattered to seek shelter at friends’ houses and even his own home. He wasn’t sure the trip west would be possible until players were able to get to campus Friday, collect their things and get on the road. It was something to be thankful for – in addition to the minimal damage sustained at Flagler.
Given the abnormal lead-up to the event, Cavanagh was proud of the way his team chased Nova. He didn’t want his players to get too ahead of themselves, and even though they clipped the Sharks by two shots in the final round – 288 to 290 – it wasn’t quite enough to erase the lead Nova had taken in the first round.
“It’s a great feeling to be in that position,” he said. “They handled it awesome, my girls. It definitely hurts when you lose by one shot but it’s a lot better to be in contention. There is another event in two more week.”
