UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – "Dominate the State" has been a common term among football teams in Pennsylvania in recent years, but the strategy has also found its way to another program, the Penn State women's golf team.
The Nittany Lions have six Pennsylvania residents on their roster and consistently have had 3-4 regulars in the starting lineup from the state over the past three seasons. Head Coach Denise St. Pierre works hard to recruit as much in state talent as possible.
"It's not always easy (to keep talent in state)," St. Pierre said. "You certainly go after a lot of the best players in your state but it's hard to keep them here. A lot of them sometimes have their sights set on somewhere more south. Certainly, Jackie Rogowicz and Lauren Waller were two very highly recruited players and when they were juniors they got outside of the state of Pennsylvania (in high school before coming to Penn State) and competed against some of the other top juniors in the country and that sets the bar."
The key portion of that Pennsylvania talent is among the large senior class. Four seniors compose almost half of the roster themselves, with three - Cara Basso, Rogowicz and Waller out of the Keystone State.
"I've really enjoyed the experience of being able to play for my home state. Coaches have a tradition of hanging up international flags in the locker room and last year as a joke we hung up a Pennsylvania flag just because there are so many of us that are from the state here," Basso said. "I met Lauren in high school and Jackie I've known probably since I was 11 or 12 so just being able to come into a team where we already have those connections built makes it a lot easier for us to be a pretty close knit family."
That pride for the state has transferred into results on the course early on in the season. The squad was led in scoring last year by the classmates from Pennsylvania, all averaging two-over par on the season.
"We were fortunate a few years ago to recruit a pretty good class out of the state of Pennsylvania that all were top players in the state as well as other areas," St. Pierre said. "I feel fortunate that we got them all at the same time and I'm excited about it because sometimes you'll see programs that are at the top that have kind of a mixed roster and in many cases a lot of international players. We certainly have a little bit of that flavor but we have a lot of home brew is what we call it and it would be nice to do some big things with that."
That "home brew" has been a group that not only contains the three seniors but also junior Maddy Herr, sophomore Olivia Zambruno and freshman Taylor Waller, the younger sister of the senior Lauren. This group has been able to ramp up the competition this year within the team helping each player improve with each swing.
Not only have the seniors been able to contribute on the course, but the leadership provided has played a role in the early season optimism as well.
"The leadership our senior class provides is so important," St. Pierre said. "I sat the seniors down in the beginning of the year and told them 'You're going to set the tone. You don't realize it but what you do and the players coming after you notice it. You set the tone for how things are going to be in this last year that you have'. It's started on a good note as well. We've had some of the best competition just between the players themselves."
After a rain shortened opening tournament in South Carolina, the team returns home for the only home event on the slate for them this fall with the Nittany Lion Invitational. The competition level looks to be high, with top 20 opponents such as the University of Washington and other quality programs coming to Happy Valley, but the team is ready to defend its' home course.
"There is definitely more emphasis on playing well here at home," Basso said. "It's definitely nice to be able to sleep here in your own bed and get ready in your own clubhouse as opposed to rolling in and out of a van every day. Not to mention having the support of the locals here and we have tons of volunteers who come out year after year so especially as a senior getting to see some of those faces for the last time as well as their families coming it's really a great event."
From home cooking powering the team on the course this weekend, to in-state talent leading the way forward, the Nittany Lions are prepared to compete with the best in the country this season.
"(Playing for my home school) means a lot. When I was looking at schools I never thought that Penn State was going to be in the cards for me," Waller said. "I was always just looking elsewhere and I never thought about it until I came here and visited and loved it. So it means a lot to have a bunch of girls and show we can represent our state well and just prove that girls from Pennsylvania who don't get to play from November to March or April can really prove themselves and really be good players so it means a lot."
