Golf | 3/2/2016 12:26:00 PM
ITHACA, N.Y. — On Tuesday, a sunny winter afternoon at Ithaca College, the student-athletes on the Ithaca golf team took turns teeing up a golf ball and driving their shots down the fairway.
With the freezing cold temperatures and the always-present threat of snow, such scenes are usually next to impossible in Central New York. But thanks to the generosity of donors, the student-athletes on the Ithaca College golf team now have the chance to practice their swing in any weather on a state-of-the-art golf simulator inside the Athletics and Events Center.
The new machine, financed entirely by private anonymous donors, allows the team to practice indoors under perfect playing conditions at any time.
"This is a really exciting moment for our women's golf program," said
Susan Bassett '79, Ithaca College's Director of Athletics and Recreational Sports. "This is going to be a tremendous teaching tool and training tool."
Not only does the simulator give the team the opportunity to practice regardless of the elements, but it also gives players a chance to analyze their swings in a completely different way.
"We have now state-of-the-art video analysis and force plates, which will bring a lot to the table," said first-year head coach
Molly Braid. "It will help all aspects of our game from going into decision making and being able to coach easier on the course … to having more hands on time practicing over the winter for [the student-athletes] going into their tournaments in the spring."
Sophomore
Kyra Denish, who helped lead the Bombers to their sixth straight Empire 8 championship in the fall, believes the simulator will provide IC with an added edge on the course.
"I think it's really going to improve the team because it gives such specific feedback and it will really help us figure out what part of our game we need to work on," said Denish, who earned first-team All-Empire 8 honors in the fall.
The simulator features 24 real-life courses that players can choose from to fine-tune their game.
"It brings the world to us, because they can play courses from all over the world," Braid said of the team's new acquisition. "I am extremely excited and very grateful. We can't wait to get started this spring."
With the new golf simulator at their disposal, the team will look to build off of the fall successes when the spring season kicks off March 17. Ithaca travels down to Myrtle Beach, S.C. for an invitational with Cortland, Denison University, and William
Smith before competing in the Vassar Invitational (April 9-10), the Amherst Invitational (April 16-17), and the Ithaca Invitational (April 23-24). The Bombers conclude the season at the annual NCAA Division III championship, May 10-13 in Houston, Texas.Â
