Madeline Leavitt - Sports Editor

PLAYING THROUGH THE PAIN: WEIL WRAPS UP ISU GOLF CAREER AT CONFERENCE

Katrina WeilMadeline Leavitt

Sports Editor

Some believe golf is a dull sport that older men play while making business deals. But for Katrina Weil, it is more than that.

Weil has not always been a part of the sport. She had to take a break for a few years after having two surgeries on her wrist when she was 10. Weil was diagnosed with an extremely rare bone disease called Chronic Recurrent Multifocal Osteomyelitis (CRMO).

“After taking all of that time off, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to come back but I eventually decided to,” Weil said. “It has been an uphill battle.”

Weil says she sometimes suffers pain when she plays but feels the injury has only made her stronger.

Now, Weil is in her senior season on the ISU golf team. The team received a new coach this year, Dallen Atkins, who has completly turned the program around.

Weil says that Atkins and the previous coach have different teaching styles. Atkins focuses on course management and playing smarter, while the previous coach helped the team with the mental side of the game.

“It has been quite the change but [Atkins] brings in a new perspective and helps to change the way we think about the game,” Weil said.

On April 9 and 10, Atkins and the women’s golf team were in Arizona for the Bobcat Invitational, where Weil shot a 252 for the weekend. Weil feels she has struggled with consistency this season, but believes her and her teammates are ready for conference.

The women’s golf team will head to the conference tournament on April 20-22.

“We know what we can do there,” Weil said. “I think we can draw from our last tournament and use that to do better at conference.”

Weil has been golfing ever since she was young. Her father played his entire life so it made sense for Weil herself to play.

Weil says that the conference tournament course is one that the four seniors have played a lot.

“It is bittersweet,” she said. “This is my fourth conference so it is coming full-circle. We want to go out with a strong finish, but I think Dallen has a lot of good ideas about where he wants to take the program after we leave.”