The Panther golf team’s fall season has come to a close, ending a season of ups and downs for both the men and women.

On the men’s links, Charleston native Dustin Sloat led the way for most of the season, posting a 74.88 strokes per 18 hole average, leading the team by almost two strokes. Sloat recently took first place in the Ironhorse Intercollegiate tournament to round out the season for the Panthers.

“I am thrilled with the way Dustin played this season,” new Eastern head coach Mike Moncel said. “I’ve seen him play for a number of years already, and I know he’s always capable of playing well.”

As for the upcoming spring season, the Panthers face stiff competition from tough southern schools. However, Moncel said that playing high caliber teams will ultimately help the team in the long run.

If the Panthers can stay consistent with their short game, they should have the same kind of success this spring.

“We just need to make little improvements in every aspect, but we should be in pretty good shape,” Moncel said.

The other major problem the Panthers seemed to have during the fall season was the inconsistency of all five Panther golfers to post good scores on the same day.

Many times, when one man was having a bad day, another played well. If the team can play well as a whole, Moncel said the Panthers will be more threatening to their competition.

On the women’s tee blocks, Amanda Minchin posted a good fall season, helping to lead the Panthers to strong finishes in all the tournaments they were in this past season. Minchin’s lowest finish was a 27th place finish in the first tournament of the season, but finished not lower than fifth in the rest of the tournaments.

“Amanda had a great season, and really helped us along the way,” Moncel said.

Minchin helped to guide the Panthers to a strong finish despite only having a six-person roster.

“We had a low turnout this season, but all the girls played well, and are still improving.” Again, the women will also need to work on small things to improve for the spring season, but Moncel expects the team to do well. The team will open the season at the Southern Shootout in Birmingham, Ala., where it will no doubt face fierce competition, but still hopes to fair well if it can string together some good scores from everyone on the team.

“If we can just get good production from everyone on the team, and have everyone play their best golf consistently, we can compete with anyone,” Moncel said.

Both teams will use these last days of nice, warm weather to try and work on their skills for the spring season. They will also be able to get out again early enough to begin practicing before both teams begin the grueling spring season.