Seeing -- Again and Again -- is Believing for Torres

Occasionally she will go back and look at the video her mom sent her.

Sofia Torres looks at it for reassurance because the truth is still somewhat amazing to her – she'll be playing in the NCAA Westfield Regional golf tournament May 8-10 in Westfield, Ind.

"I don't know. It feels unreal," Torres said after practice this week. "I watch it to convince myself."

It's a visual pinch from 10 days ago when she stared at the television screen to see if her name was going to appear. She'd been told by many her chances were excellent. Her dad said he wasn't concerned at all. The NCAA selection show started at 11 a.m., and Torres had class at 10 a.m., so she figured she had time to make it back in time to watch.

But the nerves started to build along with the anxiousness, eventually deciding she just couldn't sit through a class, so she emailed her professor to tell them exactly why she'd be absent. The reply?

"It's fine. Let me know if you're going to make it," Torres said.

She did, one of five individuals placed in that particular region competed at The Club at Chatham Hills Golf Course. At the beginning of the season, Torres didn't give the postseason a second thought. At the start of the spring, the idea changed to maybe.

"Everything happened so fast. My goals, I never thought about regionals," she said. "It wasn't until we played in Tennessee, and I called my coach back home and said I think there's a chance I can make it to regionals. Then I was thinking, this can be huge. This feels great.

"It's everything. I think about it, I'm going to play against the best players in the country. It feels a little weird and I'm nervous, but I'm also really excited. I just want to go and compete."

Her chances were real alright. She played 30 rounds this season, including the Mountain West Championships where she placed tied for third with teammate Lacey Uchida, both shooting 212. On the final day, Torres made a major push, coming in at 5-under 67, the second time this season she's hit the number.

The reason she made the cut is that weekend wasn't the only time the junior played well. The reality was it was pretty much a normal weekend, setting a program record with a stroke average of 72.77 for the season.

"The regional field you're playing against, to even make it there means you're top 200 in the country," CSU coach Laura Cilek said. "There are 320 teams that all have about eight players, so do the math. That's a lot of people, so the odds of making the top 200 are slim. She should feel proud she's in comfortably; there were like 5-10 people behind her who got in.

"The key to postseason is consistency during the year, and she's showed up consistently week in and week out. Maybe in a three-day event she had a bad day here or there, but she had two strong rounds after it. In the fall and spring, we play a lot of events, and that's a long time to be consistent. Then you put yourself in the most elite field all year and hopefully you can advance to the national championships."

The leap Torres is still trying to make is admitting that she, by virtue of making the field, is one of those "best players" she talks about. She knows it's true, but she's not ready to say it out lout quite yet.

How she reacted to the news is to keep with her same routine. She's not looking to change anything, and for good reason. Her game has been solid all season, including her individual victory at a tournament in Hawaii. Her stroke has felt good all year, and her putting has been solid.

"I'm going to treat it like any other tournament, that it's one more on the list. I'll see how it goes and try to enjoy it," Torres said. "I want to play some good golf. It's going to be fun.

"I just feel good about how I'm playing and how I'm handling things. I think it will be a great experience for me and my golf game."

Torres becomes the first Ram to make the field since 2018, when both Katrina Prendergast and Ellen Secor played in the Austin Regional. That season, Prendergast posted the best showing by a CSU player by shooting 3-over in the three-day event.

Torres said the only thing missing is the team. She will travel by herself, which is something Cilek knows she'll have to contend with mentally being used to playing as part of a team. Torres wants her showing to be just the first step, and Cilek is hoping for the same reaction.

"They've played every tournament with her, so I think they see it's not that far out of reach. She has definitely stepped up and brought it every week, but they all realize all they need is a bit more consistency," Cilek said. "They don't have to overhaul their golf games, it's consistently bringing it every single event.

"Being able to see is the first step. It's huge for us, and it has been one of my goals as I've been reforming the program."

Seeing is believing, which is why Torres keeps going back to the video. When her selection was announced, her region was the last on the list, making her wait until the very end. As each region passed on the screen without her name, her tension only grew.

Then finally, her name. Then she saw the school logo, so it was real. But it never hurts to go back and check.

"I was so excited. I was in shock," she said. "I kept staring at the TV, and I was, my gosh, my name was there. I saw the Ram logo and said, that's me."

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