Despite not winning a tournament, Sacramento State’s men’s and women’s golf teams made positive strides during their fall season, which concluded in early November.

Golf director David Sutherland summed up the men’s and women’s seasons simply.

“We had a good fall, but we didn’t have a great one,” he said.

Sutherland said he thought the men and women played similarly this fall and both squads have areas that they can improve in the spring.

“The key for our success is going to be a commitment to our short game,” he said. “Both programs, at times, struggle with their short game. That’s just going to come down to staying a whole lot of hours out on the facilities working on it.”

Sophomore Grant Rappleye, who led the men in the final fall tournament at the Pacific Invitational at UOP in Stockton, said that aspect of his game is what he thinks he needs to improve most.

“I had two good putting rounds out of 16,” Rappleye said. “I’m not a perfectionist, but I still thought I should have putted better.”

The women’s team played in four tournaments. Their best finish, third place, came in Pullman, Wash., at the Northwest Dodge Dealers Inland Cup in late October.

Sophomore Julie Shutler had a record-setting performance at the Chip-N Invitational in Lincoln, Neb., in September. She finished in third place, shooting a Sac State 54-hole record of 214.

“I felt like at some times, we were fantastic,” he said. “The women started off by beating a couple of teams in the Pac-10 by quite a bit. They competed really well back in Nebraska. And then sometimes, we didn’t play as well.”

The men competed in five events, placing as high as third in the Kaua’i Collegiate Invitational in Hawaii.

Sophomore Jake Johnson, who tied the Hornet 54-hole low score on Oct. 29, said the Hawaii tournament helped the team overall.

“It was a little bit of a confidence boost because we all realize that we can compete and shoot well,” Johnson said. “I think as a team at this point in the year, we all are playing better, we’re all putting pressure on each other to play better. So, we’re kind of raising each other to the next level.”

The men do not play until Feb. 1, when they travel to the UC Irvine Invitational.

The women are off until March 1, when they play in the Fresno State Lexus Golf Classic to open the spring season.

Sutherland said the goal remains unchanged.

“We’re like a lot of schools,” he said. “Our satisfaction is going to come from winning a conference championship and we don’t really start that until April.”

Dustin Nosler can be reached at [email protected]