Reinaldo Llerena/ Contributing Writer
The FIU women’s golf team, led by number one golfer sophomore Meghan MacLaren, looks to remain consistent heading into the last of its regular season tournaments.
MacLaren, who is from the United Kingdom, has an 18 hole average of just over 74 or two over par this season. She was named Conference USA’s Women’s Golfer of the Week for the week of October 3 after finishing fifth at the Golfweek Conference Challenge in September.
After being named Women’s Golfer of the Week, MacLaren began to struggle with consistency at the FIU Pat Bradley Invitational in October. In the tournament, she shot a 71 on the first day, a 78 on the second day, and a 76 on the third day of the tournament.
Since the UCF Challenge in February, however, she has remained consistent, shooting an average score of 72.66 in both the Amelia Island Collegiate and the 2014 Notre Dame Clover Cup, the most recent tournaments.
“The biggest thing that I have learned this season is to never give up,” MacLaren said. “You never know what is going to happen later in the round. There have been rounds where it doesn’t go well for you, but you have to remember that you play for a team and not for yourself. If you let your play affect you negatively, you let down not just yourself, but the other four players on the team as well as your coach.”
Last year, the golf team went on to win the NCAA championship. So the entire team had a lot to live up to, especially MacLaren.
MacLaren went on to win three tournaments last season and led the Sun Belt Conference with a stroke average of just under 74. The accomplishments do not end there, however. She was also named the Sun Belt Conference Freshman of the Year and named to the All-Conference First-Team and All-Tournament Team.
“I did pretty well last year,” MacLaren said. “I won three tournaments last season and we won four tournaments as a team. We have had quite a lot to live up to this year, but we lost a couple of players that were replaced by several freshman. It’s been a steep learning curve for us this year and I guess people expected a lot from us after last year. We are trying to build back towards that success that we had. We’ve got a really good team and we showed what we can do in the past tournament [Amelia Island Collegiate].”
MacLaren, is from Cambridge, United Kingdom. To those not familiar with the origins of Golf, it was invented in Scotland, which is part of the U.K. So naturally, she started playing the sport from an early age.
“I started playing golf at around the age of four,” MacLaren said. “I started because everyone in my family plays golf. I actually wanted to stop playing for a while, but I decided against it and just to stick with it. That decision has paid off ever since then.”
So with an abundance of opportunities back home, why did she come to FIU to play Golf?
“I came over here mainly because the weather is miserable in the winter,” MacLaren said. “Having bad weather in the winter makes it difficult to practice and to find the motivation to practice. Out here, you have the opportunity to compete year-round and that is a chance you can’t get back home.”
The Women’s Golf teams wraps up the regular season with the Web.com Intercollegiate at the Marsh Landing Country Club in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida on April 8th. After the tournament is done, the team will travel to Gulf Shores, Alabama, the site of the Conference USA Women’s Golf Championship.
As for MacLaren, she has a difficult decision to think about over the next few years concerning her future as a golfer.
“I would like to turn professional, but I haven’t decided which tour that I want to participate in,” MacLaren said. “Being here for four years, however, will ultimately decide which tour [American or European] that I want to participate in.”
-sports@fiusm.com