With the recent snowfall and drop in temperature, the men’s and women’s golf teams are waiting for the ground to thaw before opening their season in mid-March.

“The weather has not been the greatest, but we expect it this time of year,” head coach Jay Albaugh said.

“The weather dictates whether we can practice outside and whether the course and driving range is open.”

While the warmer weather last week gave the team an opportunity for outdoor work, the team has been pushed back into the Lantz Fieldhouse to hit into a net again.

“It’s a rough go right now, but we do some indoor work in the fieldhouse into the net, but that only does so much,” Albaugh said.

“You can’t correct the swing when you can’t see the ball land anywhere. Indoor work is not going to do us a lot of good.”

After wrapping up the fall season, the teams took a winter break and return now for the spring portion of the season and the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament.

Both the men and women return a young class of golfers with one senior on the men’s squad and none in the women’s starting five.

“You could classify us as a young team,” Albaugh said. “Most of them will be here for the next two years.”

Senior Jim Hamann has been the leader for the Panthers this year, and according to Albaugh, has been putting in the best work ethic on the team. Junior Kristin Hoff has been the leader for the women’s squad.

The women return a solid group of talented golfers who have the possibility of capturing the conference title this season.

“For the women’s team, this is the first time in the program’s history that we can say we can win the conference championship,” Albaugh said.

“It’s definitely within our grasp. We have to step our grasp up a notch.”

Murray State, the conference favorite in the tournament, is a “senior-laden team” according to Albaugh, but he has faith that Eastern can defeat them.

“We can beat them,” he said. “We were only eight shots behind them, so it’s very feasible to knock that off.”

The men’s side has gone through a series of rebuilding years, improving from a 10th place four years ago to last year’s fourth-place finish.

“They have made a huge improvement and this year is one where they will continue that climb,” Albaugh said.

“I don’t want to put any limitations on them because they can go out and try the best they can. They’re so balanced, but they have to put together three solid days for the conference tournament.”

Eastern Kentucky and Austin Peay have been the strong teams in the men’s league and showed that with solid performances in the fall.

“The winter layoff tends to have strange effects on teams, but our teams seem to do better in the spring,” Albaugh said. “I can’t explain it, but the past records show that we’ve had a higher place in the spring.”

While the fall season record will carry over into the spring, it is the spring season that matters for the Panthers, who prepare for the OVC Tournament April 28.