Against all odds

It didn’t take long for the Wolverines’ new women’s golf coach Sue Nyphus to get up to par and get the team up and swinging as well.

Any time a team announces a new head coach it’s only normal for fans to be concerned about how the team will react and develop. With this being Nyphus’ first year coaching at UVU, she would face the same issues any new coach would.

New coaches face athletes that they personally didn’t recruit, and most of the time has hardly even seen them play. It’s not uncommon for team unity to take time to build, and a trusting relationship could take even longer to grow.

All of which were valid concerns for most programs and new coaches, except Nyphus.

“I absolutely love it,” Nyphus said. “I’m so grateful for the opportunity to coach and work with these young ladies from UVU every day. Being around this great team who cares about each other in a genuine way, and are always willing to help each other out has made this year so amazing so far.”

The team has played well so far this year, and has had some highlights most golfers may never experience in a lifetime, much less a season.

Sophomore Monica Fox shot two hole-in-ones within a week of each other, while on the same day and same round as Fox, freshman Beverly Pike holed in an albatross (double-eagle) from over 200 yards out on a par-5.

A 2004 article in GolfWorld magazine quoted Dean Knuth, inventor of the USGA’s slope rating system for golf courses and handicaps, saying that the odds of an average golfer getting a hole-in-one is 13,000-to-one. While the odds of an albatross in his best “guesstimate” is said to be around the range of 1-million-to-one odds.

The highlights don’t end on the course for Nyphus and the lady Wolverine golfers; Nypus is just as proud for the work the team is doing off the greens.

Last week the team put together and held a free golf clinic for all the local high school students to attend.

“We enjoy giving back and engaging with the community,” said Nyphus. “The UVU community is important to our success and we want to be able to interact with them as much as possible. These young ladies have made me so proud and their involvement off the course really says a lot about this program.”

Maybe karma has helped in a shot or two for the lady Wolverine golfers; how else could they be playing against all the odds?

The lady Wolverines will be back in action today and tomorrow at the Cowgirl Classic in Chandler, Ariz. Their season will conclude the end of April as they make the trip to the Great West Conference Championships in Montgomery, Tx., Apr. 25-27.