Our second trip of the season began bright and early Friday morning where we met in our usual spot behind Savage Arena packed and ready to go. But before we could leave we had to strategically organize our enormous amounts of golf gear into the team van.  Finally we were headed off to Michigan State with two teammates, redshirt freshman Megan Carroll and freshman Jennifer Elsholz, making their collegiate debut.  The two-hour drive up to East Lansing seemed like nothing compared to our six-hour trip to Illinois State the prior weekend.  Before we knew it we were pulling up to Forest Akers West course preparing to play our practice round.  After a very solid and focused five-hour practice round we felt prepared and ready to tackle the course in the days to come. 

Alarms were set for 6:00 a.m. the first day of the tournament so we would have enough time to wake up, eat and warm up before the shotgun start at 9:00 a.m.  The playing field consisted of some very well ranked teams including Michigan State, Ohio State, Michigan, Kent State and Miami. The course played up to its high standards with tricky tee shots, thick rough, and lightning fast greens.  After the first two rounds, the Rockets didn't do as well as was hoped but we hung tough and still posted some solid numbers.  After some post-round practicing we were headed back to the hotel.  Olive Garden was ordered in, and we made the hotel lobby our dining room for the night.  Although extremely exhausted from playing36 holes we found some time to study for classes.  But it was off to bed fairly early so we could wake up well rested for the final day of the tournament.   

Sunday morning was here before we knew it.  We loaded into the van and headed out to the driving range.  After some range work, pitching, chipping, and putting, we were ready to take on Forest Akers West Course one last time.  Yet again, the course proved to play challenging.  There was a bit more wind the final round and greens played even quicker.  We didn't finish this tournament as high as we had hoped, but we managed to shoot some decent scores on a great golf course. 

I want to thank all of the fans who came out to support us this weekend.  It is greatly appreciated and means so much!  Hope to see you in a few weeks down in Kentucky!

Kate Hoops is a sophomore from Lima, OH who is majoring in early childhood education.

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