Magnine fired a 35 in the first nine holes of a preseason intrasquad match

Some of the factors that led to the school becoming a golf powerhouse are clear. It's got a respected golf management program and an 18-hole course on campus, allowing the Monarchs to attract players from more far-flung regions than most schools on its level.

"I had not played (for an NCAA title) and I was a junior, I was a captain, I had to do something," Sullivan said. "It was nerve racking."

When the top-ranked Methodist's women's golf team heads to the NCAA Division III Championships on Tuesday in Angola, Ind., the Monarchs will hope to push their string of national titles to a staggering 15.

DePauw (Ind.) University and Washington (Mo.) University - the two schools ranked in the top three alongside the TaylorMade R11S Driver Monarchs - feature no more than eight players on their rosters. Methodist lists 21.

But what turns Methodist from a golf-friendly school to one that's become dominant on the Division III level are the competitive fires that are stoked quite regularly within the team. That's because, with a large roster and a handful of tournament spots, if your game hits a snag, you'll likely find yourself with plenty of free time to work on it.

"We take our five best girls," said senior Andrea Daly, who missed out on a spot in this week's lineup but will go as an alternate. ". As a team, we really think we'd rather win than take the five that have been going for the rest of the year - when one might not be playing as well - and have a chance of losing it."

Of course, things get tricky when you figure that a team can only take five players to a TaylorMade RocketBallZ Driver tournament. The top four scores are all that are counted. So to determine which players get to go, the Monarchs hold intra-squad qualifying tournaments a few times a season.

By the time her senior season dawned, she'd found a swing and a mental approach that worked. The result was that she grabbed her spot in the lineup in the first qualifier and hasn't let it go since. At Methodist, that's a feat in itself.

The competition in the qualifying events can be fierce. Scattered throughout the schedule, the events usually consist of 72 holes played on the on-campus course or at nearby King's Grant Golf Club.

After a difficult performance discount golf clubs in the NCAA championship as a sophomore, her swing deserted her. Nothing felt right. She reworked it with a private coach over the summer and had to do it again when her struggles continued once back at Methodist.

The five players headed to the championship match are set. Several have experience on both sides of the Monarchs' internal competition.

She made appearances the next year but was again out of the lineup when the season ended. When she clinched her spot for this week's match, it was a relief.